Submitted by The Keep Clermont Rural Team
Friends,
On Tuesday, October 26, the County Commission will be considering a “settlement agreement” to grant the Boutros Family and Pillar homes the right to build 102 homes on Lakeshore at Suggs Road.
This project was denied in June, but is back after the developer and County staff made an “agreement” during the appeal process. The settlement not only grants 102 houses for the Lake Nellie Crossing project (vs. 20 if no PUD was put forward), but agrees to provide an expedited comprehensive plan amendment within 6 months to develop additional parcels on Lakeshore at an unspecified density. Basically, a blank check!
The settlement claims this agreement is made in the public interest because the community wishes to see the Lakeshore corridor finalized, but this plan could not be further from what was proposed as a compromise. Community members did attempt to negotiate and suggested that if the density from the Lake Nellie project were reduced, and the other parcels that were for sale as part of the 270+ home Saddlebrook proposal also developed at a much lower density, the developer could ultimately build more homes, while the community could be comfortable that Lakeshore was “finished” without any more high-density impacts.
In this scenario everyone would finish in a better position than we are today. Unfortunately, the developers chose to take advantage of this offer, and took the opportunity to demand the FULL density on the initial development while adding a little bonus- a second development utilizing only 1/2 of the Saddlebrook acreage. This will not only create two high-density communities but also leave significant portions of Lakeshore open for future infill. Remember, the excluded parcels were proposed as high-density development just a few months ago, so we can reasonably expect they’ll be back again as soon as this development is approved.
To be clear, There was NO agreement or even discussion with the community regarding this “agreement.” This was a proposal wholly constructed by the developer, possibly with the support of Commissioner Parks. For now, these parcels remain in Parks’ district, but in December new districts will take effect and the entire Lakeshore Corridor will be in District 1 – belonging to Doug Shields. We need your help to demand that Chairman Parks honors his commitment to protect the Lakeshore Corridor. This “agreement” is purely a grab by the developers, with County staff playing along.
We desperately need your help to stop it and protect Lakeshore! Please attend the Commission meeting Tuesday, Oct 26 at 9:00 am in the Tavares round building. You can also attend via Zoom. Also, be sure to email your Commissioners TODAY – especially Commissioner Parks – to remind them this is NOT an acceptable outcome for the community.
We urge you to use your voice TODAY to encourage your elected officials to vote NO by clicking on this link to email your County Commissioners! If you have trouble getting the link to work, you can send a manual email to:
Commissioner Shields – DShields@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Campione – LCampione@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Parks – SParks@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Smith – KSmith@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Blake – JBlake@lakecountyfl.gov
Thanks to everyone for paying attention and staying engaged!
The team at Keep Clermont Rural
keepclermontrural@gmail.com
