Does The Villages need another Walmart?
An enormous Walmart is being built at Morse Boulevard and State Road 44 near the south end of The Villages.
A Walmart Neighborhood Market is going in on County Road 466 in Lady Lake. There are existing Walmarts at Buffalo Ridge Plaza and Sarasota Plaza in The Villages. There are also Walmarts in Summerfield and Leesburg.
“How many Walmarts do we need?” residents asked the Community Development District 4 Board of Supervisors during a meeting Friday afternoon at Savannah Center.
The residents, most of them homeowners in the Phillips Villas near Mulberry Grove Plaza, are upset that the Developer has agreed to lease a large plot of land for the construction of a new Walmart Neighborhood Market, which will include 20 gas pumps. The new Walmart to be located on Villages’ property on County Road 42 is expected to open in the third quarter of 2027.
Residents of the Phillips Villas are horrified that the large green space they have enjoyed for the past several years could soon be a Walmart that they fear will bring crime, traffic, noise and rodents.
Phillips Villas residents lined up at the podium and detailed their fears when they spoke out at the CDD 4 meeting.
“The proposed Walmart will be built directly in front of Phillips and also borders Summerfield,” said LeRoy Valley of the Phillips Villas. “The crime rate in The Villages is an astonishingly low .03 percent. In contrast, Summerfield’s crime rate is 21 percent – nearly 800 times higher!”
He said his neighborhood will become “a much more visible target for the 21 percent demographic.”
Lori Popp, also of the Phillips Villas, said the lives of she and her neighbors will never be the same if Walmart is allowed to build on that plot of land.
“Our concerns need to be addressed,” Popp said.
Other residents pointed out there are no sidewalks, no multi-modal path and no manned gate at the Phillips Villas. They believe those features will be a necessity if Walmart is their new neighbor.
Board Chairman Cliff Wiener said he was sympathetic to the residents’ concerns, but said the new Walmart is not a matter for CDD 4.
“You need to go before Marion County,” Wiener said.
Supervisors Mark Hayes and Cary Sternberg took the same stance.
“When we buy property, we take a chance about who our neighbor will be,” Sternberg said.
However, Supervisors Don Deakin and Jim Murphy suggested more could be done to side with residents.
“We all have a stake in this. We all have a dog in this fight,” Deakin said. “The quality of all our lives will be affected.”
Deakin, who serves as CDD 4’s liaison to the Marion County Commission, suggested that Marion County commissioners could be persuaded to “slow down” the process and take time to listen to residents.
He said residents should mark their calendars and plan to attend a State of Marion County event set to be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20 at Mulberry Grove Recreation Center.
Does The Villages need another Walmart? Share your thoughts at [email protected]