Leesburg commissioners approved the creation of massive mixed use development called Village Palms along State Road 44 during Monday’s commission meeting.
Village Palms will be developed on a 316 acre parcel south of State Road 44 and west of Whitney Road.
The Village Palms development will have four entrances onto State Road 44, just south of the Pennbrooke Fairways retirement community. The Village Palms development will be a mixed-use subdivision which is not affiliated with The Villages retirement community, just west of the Lake/Sumter County line.
The plan for the development calls for 1,260 residential units which will consist of 562 detached single-family homes, 300 multi-family apartments, 134 duplexes and 264 townhouses. Three roundabouts would be constructed in the development as well as 130,000 square feet of commercial space which may include a 120 room hotel. The plan allows for the construction of 42,000 square feet of professional and medical offices.
Six residents of the Pennbrooke Fairways subdivision which is just across SR 44 from the Village Palms development expressed concerns regarding the increased traffic on SR 44 leading to more accidents. Neighbors were concerned with the high speed of traffic on SR 44 which makes it difficult for them to exit their development as they now have to turn right and do a U-turn on SR 44 in order to head to downtown Leesburg. Planning and Zoning Director Dan Miller said that the city planned to work with the state and the county to get a traffic light. Miller said that since SR 44 is a state road the state has the sole authority to establish traffic control lights on the highway.
A stoplight would aid drivers exiting both Pennbrooke Fairways and Village Palms as well as  the Crossings at 44 which borders the Village Palms on three sides. The Crossings at 44, which has been approved, will have 280 apartment units, a three-story assisted living and memory care unit, medical offices and commercial property when it is completed.
