Leesburg commissioners approved an annexation and Planned Unit Development for a 586 single family home subdivision during Monday’s commission meeting.
The PUD, Lake Margaretta Estates, consists of 196.07 +/- acres located south of County Road 48 and East of Number Two Road.
About 103 acres of the proposed development are already in the city of Leesburg and the developer is seeking to add an additional 93 acres to reach the 196 acre total. The commission approved the annexation of the additional 93 acres.
The plan calls for 316 50-foot lots, 155 60-foot lots and 115 70 foot-lots. The 50-foot lots would have to have a 1700 square foot minimum size house while the 60-foot lot would have a minimum size house of at least 1800 square feet and the 1900 square foot lots would have a minimum size of 1900 square feet. At least 68 acres would have to be green space.
The developer’s representative, Tom Dailey, told the commission that they had met with property owners regarding the concerns they had regarding traffic on Number Two road. Dailey said that a driveway from the development would exit onto Number Two Road but that entrance would be for emergency vehicles only and no one living in the Lake Margaretta Estates would be able to use the exit.
Sandy Russ who lives near the proposed development expressed concerns she had regarding the impact that the development would have on traffic. She told the commission “that there are 2,000 homes in the area bounded by CR 48 and Number Two Road as well as 2,636 homes under construction in developments In Howey-in-the-Hills and Leesburg as well as the Lake Margaretta development, you can see that this will more than double the number of houses in this area will increase the population and the traffic.” She detailed a review of the traffic study and told the commission that the developer’s traffic study did not consider the impact that additional developments would have on traffic patterns on County Road 48. She urged the commission to reject the development.
She and her neighbors have consistently spoken out against the development.
The commission voted to approve the Margaretta Lake Estates in a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Jay Connell was not at the meeting.