Despite local rumors, development of the Villages of Fruitland Park will not support a proposed project to widen Timbertop Lane as a new north-south bypass from Rolling Acres Road through The Villages.
Fruitland Park city planner Greg Beliveau, president of LPG Urban & Regional Planning in Mount Dora, told more than 200 residents at a city commission meeting Thursday night that such rumors are false.
“There is no scenario on the boards at all to improve Timbertop Lane north to Rolling Acres Road,” Beliveau said. “That is not part of the development planning and never was,” he added.
Beliveau said the rumors might have been inspired when the city recommended that the Villages of Fruitland Park locate its easternmost entrance at Timbertop Lane and S.R. 466-A.
“The recommendation to improve that intersection will serve potential development at Timbertop Lane and S.R. 466-A, and that’s why the recommendation was made,” Beliveau said.
One 80-acre parcel located near the intersection is already approved for mixed-use development and existing adjacent commercial development would also benefit, Beliveau said.
“In the future, we may want to add a traffic signal at that intersection, but that is strictly a design consideration to make the intersection safer. Further improvements to Timbertop Lane are not part of the equation,” Beliveau said.
