Leesburg commissioners voted to deny a controversial development Monday night after hearing from the project’s neighbors.
The property was to be called Venice at Lake Harris and would have been located east of U.S. Hwy. 27 and north of Magnolia Avenue.
The plan called for 26 attached single-family residential units as well as 21,000 square feet of commercial uses. The Planning and Zoning Department recommended approval of the development. Long-time residents of the area banded together to object to the project and were able to convince the Planning Commission to reject the annexation. The neighbors of the proposed development testified against the project, citing concern about the impact that the proposed development would have on the surrounding wetlands, traffic and wildlife. The Planning Commission recommended that the city deny the project. Many of those neighbors who attended the Planning Commission meeting expressed their opposition to the project during the first reading of the proposed development on May 12.
During Monday night’s commission meeting, six neighbors appeared and again urged a denial vote.
Oren Liston told the commissioners that he had lived in the area for 75 years. He told the commissioners that part of the area shown as a wetland had been a pond before being modified in the 1950s. He expressed concerns regarding flooding and the impact on the neighborhood’s roads.
Victoria Williams, who has lived between the proposed development and Lake Harris for 16 years, told the commissioners that the flooding during past storms has flooded her yard and threatened to flood the interior of her in-law’s home. Others expressed concerns regarding traffic and the negative impact the development would have on wildlife.
“The only reason the developer came to us was because he knew that Lake County would never approve the project,” Commissioner Jay Connell told his fellow commissioners.
The annexation was denied 4-1 with Commissioner Mike Pederson voting for approval.