A site plan for the 868-acre third phase of the Village of Southern Oaks was recommended for approval Tuesday by the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Board.
The recommendation by Special Magistrate Archie O. Lowry Jr. is subject to approval by the city commission.
The third phase is north of County Road 468, across the road from the Village of Fenney and the development’s first two phases. It is on a large triangular piece of property along the Florida Turnpike.
Included in the plan are homes, amenities, a golf course and a multi-modal trail that runs along the turnpike to a golf cart bridge at the northern end of the property.
Neighborhoods will surround a large wetland preserve and retention pond in the center of the site. A pedestrian path also winds along the area’s main road, according to a map provided to the city.
A small commercial area is planned near the intersection of CR 468 and the turnpike.
The massive Village of Southern Oaks is expected to include 11,000 homes on 4,518 acres on both sides of the Florida Turnpike.
The project also will have 328,000 square feet of commercial, recreational and other non-residential uses and may include a $36-million extension of Buena Vista Boulevard between State Road 44 and CR 468.
The Wildwood City Commission formally approved the development in May. The entire property is zoned under a relatively new classification of age-restricted development, which means most homeowners will be age 55 or older as in the rest of The Villages.
In other business, Lowry granted a zoning special exception that allows development of an assisted living center along County Road 101 about three quarters of a mile north of County Road 466.
Ten nearby residents attended the meeting and a few voiced concerns about the planned center, such as the possibility of increased traffic.
Villager David Thomas said he has studied another center built by the developer in Venice, Fla.
“That looks very promising,” he said. “Now, we’ve got to make sure we get another similar to that.”
