Wildwood commissioners may seek a referendum to annex the former Wildwood Country Resort, now known as Hearty Host Lake Resort.
At a Monday workshop meeting, they asked City Manager Jason McHugh to investigate the possibility of a referendum instead of the current checkerboard pattern of scattered annexations.
In the past, the commission has not favored referendum annexations because it can mean involuntary annexation for a minority that votes no.
The community of about 150 manufactured homes is located along Buena Vista Boulevard south of State Road 44. Wildwood Country Resort became an island in 2018 when the city rezoned the surrounding area to age-restricted for development of the Villages of Southern Oaks.
Last year, five lots were annexed to Wildwood.
Resident Sue Stoltz said she has found 47 residents ready to file petitions for annexation. Another 32 lots are owned by the developer and Sumter County policy requires them to be annexed before building permits are issued.
“We’re almost at 51 percent,” she said, leaving unclear status for 114 other parcels.
Commissioner Joe Elliott said the city should look at the best solution.
“We should look at a referendum that would annex the whole area,” he said. “We ought to solve as much of the problem as we possibly can.”
Residents have complained about the condition of roads in the community, but Mayor Ed Wolf said residents should not expect road improvements upon annexation.
Commissioners also discussed annexing a group of properties in single ordinances along with waiving the $3,575-per-parcel annexation fees.
City attorney Joshua Bills said statutes would not prohibit it, but he is not comfortable with that approach.
“The parcels are not contiguous,” he said. “The statutes are not completely clear as to how that works.”
Waiving the fees also could open the door for other developers to challenge the city’s fees.
Bills said the statutes provide a clear mechanism for annexation by referendum.
