A proposed addition to the massive Village of Southern Oaks would nearly double the number of permitted homes and increase the land area by a third.
The addition would add 5,664 acres to the project’s land area and 22,839 permitted homes.
It would bring the number of permitted homes to 49,339, up from 26,500. Non-residential uses would rise to 11.2 million square feet and government or office uses to 1.4 million square feet. Currently, The Villages has about 60,000 homes, not including the Village of Fenney.
Higher density, including condominiums and apartments, also is allowed in the Villages of Southern Oaks under changes made recently by the Wildwood City Commission.
The number of permitted homes may be higher than actual construction. Villages officials have said they would built up to 17,000 homes on the existing Villages of Southern Oaks property.
At a meeting Tuesday of the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Board, Special Magistrate Grant Watson recommended that the city commission approve the addition. The commission may vote on it later this month.
The land is in two sections. One parcel is at the southeast corner of U.S. 301 and the Florida Turnpike, extending east along the turnpike and south about a mile along U.S. 301, nearly to Northeast 41st Lane.
The other parcel is closer to the Village of Fenney, between the Florida Turnpike and County Road 501 and extending south to both sides of County Road 470. The second parcel is south and east of the current Villages of Southern Oaks development.
The property includes 873 acres of wetlands and 6.5 acres of surface water. It also is a likely home for protected wildlife such as the gopher tortoise, burrowing owl, southeastern American kestrel, Florida sandhill crane and Sherman’s fox squirrel.
Villages developers have pledged to work with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to protect the wetlands and wildlife or mitigate the impact.
The development is expected to have a substantial effect on public utilities such as water and sewer services. A traffic study by the developer indicated the effect would be minimal due to a planned network of internal roadways.
Commercial and institutional development may increase jobs, according to a report by Wildwood development and planning director Melanie Peavy.
Although the proposed project would require zoning changes on most of the land from agriculture to age-restricted development, the report said it would not be considered urban sprawl because it would have an energy efficient land-use pattern.
