Leesburg City Council denies rezoning request

LEESBURG — Despite receiving unanimous approval from the city Planning Commission in August, the Leesburg City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed the development of a new neighborhood adjacent to the Indian Oaks subdivision, near Lee County High School.

The rezoning request, which was submitted by Billy Boggus and Shaw Merrit, asked that 5.324 acres of land along Peach Street, Tallassee Trail and Trojan Way be rezoned from C-1 (neighborhood business) to R-2 (residential) for the development of a new subdivision of 13 single-family homes on .25-acre lots.

Lee County Zoning Administrator Marsha Studley presented the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve, explaining to the council that Planning and Zoning had to review a plat of the proposed subdivision developed by Lanier Engineering because of the type of zoning being requested.

Additionally, Studley said the plat reviewed by the Zoning Commission was the fourth iteration, since slight changes were made as the project moved through the approval process. The most recent plat showed the installation of sidewalks, which is required by city ordinance.

“The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the rezoning to R-2, conditional for single-family homes only, because that zoning allows for duplexes and apartments,” said Studley. “They approved the plat subject to installing the sidewalks and meeting all the Leesburg codes. This is the final and last plat.”

After council members asked Studley additional questions about street lights and sidewalks, a public hearing was opened to allow any interested parties to address the matter.

Leesburg residents Diana Helton and Stephanie Getek, both of whom live in Indian Oaks Plantation, were the only two attendees who approached the council to share their concerns.

“I am one of the original homeowners; I actually own the original spec home for Indian Oaks Plantation,” said Helton. “We have major concerns. I am concerned about what they’re going to do. How long is the construction going to take, what is it going to do to the subdivision that’s already existing? Are they tearing out all of our trees, are we losing our entrance, what’s it going to look like? That’s what I’m concerned about.

“I didn’t buy a house in an up-and-coming subdivision with this awesome tree line and paved entrance to find out in 15 years it was going to be torn apart. I know it’s just a sign of the times, but we have a lot of concern over there.”

Although Helton and Getek listed several worries they have about more houses being built in the area, including how that would impact the sewer system, neighborhood drainage, cable and internet service, the two homeowners’ biggest concern was traffic.

According to the two women, they exit their neighborhood off of Tallassee Trail onto Peach Street whenever they leave the neighborhood, and there is already a problem turning onto Peach Street due to high traffic heading east from downtown Leesburg to Trojan Way, which runs to Lee County High School.

“Anybody who lives in that neighborhood and tries to get out of that neighborhood to go to work every morning, we’re pretty much trapped,” Helton said. “Nobody lets us out. I actually leave for work an hour and half before I have to be there because I can’t sit there for 20 minutes until somebody decides to be nice enough and let us out of our subdivision.”

Getek concurred, saying that she too has to leave her house early to ensure that she can get where she needs to be on time each morning.

“If I left at 7:30, it would take me 20 minutes to get out of my driveway,” said Getek. “And it’s not just the (high school) students, it’s the parents, too. They will block Tallassee Trail just waiting to get into Trojan Way.”

Despite her concerns, Helton also told the council that her feelings about the development had nothing to do with who was doing the development. She said she was confident that if the development moved forward, it would be done well.

“I’m a banker and I work in real estate, and I know the builders and they’re awesome people and I love them,” she said. “I don’t have a problem with them. They’re going to build quality homes. That’s not our issue. Our issue is we live in the city of Leesburg, and we’re getting overpopulated in a place where we’re not getting any additional support.”

Council member Bob Wilson said that he sympathized with the women and that he would be happy to try and look into things like traffic and drainage.

“We feel you, believe me,” Wilson said. “If we’ve got problems, we certainly want to try to solve them. I’m trying to help you ladies as best as I can. We appreciate you coming, we really do.”

Despite his sympathies, when council member Debra Long made a motion to deny the rezoning, which was seconded by council member Richard Bush, Wilson was one of two council members who opposed it. Council member Judy Powell also opposed the motion to deny the request, while Long, Bush, and Mayor Pro Tem Billy Breeden voted in favor of denying the request. Council member Sydney Johnson recused himself from the vote because he owns property in the area, and Leesburg Mayor Jim Quinn would vote only to break a tie.

“Those houses being built, that means families are going to move into Leesburg, (and) we try to get them,” said Wilson. “We want the taxes. It should lighten the load on the rest of us that’s been living here 40 years. I’ve got mixed feelings about it, and I’ve got friends who would like me not to say anything but I’ve got to be honest with the folks that we represent here as best I know how. And if we reject that, then what’s the Planning Commission going to think about the council here?”

With the vote to deny the rezoning request, the applicants can wait six months to reapply, or the property owner can seek the necessary permitting to develop anything that fits within the C-1 zoning designation.

In other matters, the council voted unanimously to adopt the 2016-2017 city millage rate, which will remain at 6 mills. The council also voted unanimously to update the city’s compensation and job classifications, which would open the potential of hiring a city office manager and a water and wastewater superintendent.

Additionally, the council voted unanimously to adopt the latest iteration of the city’s Five Year Capital Plan, and also voted unanimously to approve the installation of a monitoring well for a septic tank at the new Public Works building, as required by the Environmental Protection Division. The monitoring well will be installed by TTL Associates for a cost of $5,050.