Leesburg commissioners were briefed Monday night on a proposed request to rezone a property to allow for commercial and light industrial uses.
The request to change the zoning to a Small Planned Unit Development SPDU, if approved, would be located on a 7.80 acre parcel located north of Commander Road and east of U.S. Hwy. 27 which is presently undeveloped acreage.
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the proposed development to the city commission. After an extensive review of the plan by the Planning and Zoning Department it found that the SPUD complied with all city requirements for planned development and recommended approval of the request.
Richard Blount, the president and CEO of Blount Development Group, a land acquisition and development company specializing in acquiring acreage for single-family build for rent, multi-family, self storage, commercial, and senior living, is the developer of the property. Blount told the commissioners that his company plans to erect a flexible space building which would consist of 34 spaces between 1,250 and 1,500 square feet for warehouse, light manufacturing and office space for local businesses. Blount estimated that the development could bring about 119 jobs to Leesburg when completed. He also told the commissioners that he believed a traffic study indicated much of the traffic congestion on local roads was caused by commuters traveling to jobs located outside of Leesburg and that more local jobs would help to reduce traffic congestion.
The commission will hold a second reading of the rezoning request and will vote on the project during a meeting on Monday, Jan. 12.