The Lady Lake Commission has nixed a family housing development over traffic concerns.
The development called for160 homes on 41 acres off County Road 25, one-eighth of a mile from Southeast 180th Street, also known as the Marion County line. The property where the development would be located is known as the Applebee property. There would be four homes per acre and the homes would sell in the $300,000 range. The houses would be marketed toward families.
Commissioners on Monday night in a 3-2 vote turned down the proposed development over concerns about traffic.
Commissioner Paul Hannan said there is already “too much traffic” on County Road 25. A traffic study indicated that the family housing development would add 1,600 daily trips to the roadway, which already sees 11,000 daily trips.
Commissioner Ed Freeman agreed with Hannan’s assessment.
“I am really concerned about the corner of Griffin Avenue and County Road 25. The traffic there is already pretty busy,” Freeman said.
He said that if the town runs water and sewer to the development, it would attract more development to the area.
“There’s a lot of vacant land out there. With water and sewer there would be motivation for more development,” Freeman said.
Hannan and Freeman were joined by Commissioner Tony Holden in voting against the development. Mayor Jim Rietz and Commissioner Ruth Kussard were outnumbered in their support for the development.
