The tiny Sumter County community of Adamsville near county roads 468 and 505 is in the thick of The Villages development plans for the Village of Fenney and the new Village of Southern Oaks.
Earlier this year, The Villages bought 8,000 acres for a reported $25 million to develop 14,000 homes or more in the Village of Southern Oaks and the Village of Fenney, currently under construction.
Adamsville residents were part of a capacity crowd attending Tuesday’s meeting of the Wildwood Planning and Zoning Committee and they’re concerned about how the massive developments will affect their rural lifestyle.
“I’m going to be surrounded by walls,” said Colin Frederick, who has lived on County Road 503 since 1985. “The people that were here originally are not being considered at all.”
Stephanie Dial said traffic is bad already, but she’s concerned that the projects will damage the rural quality of life for her autistic child and her chickens.
“I’m not hooking up to water and sewer,” she said.
John Harvey, who’s lived on County Road 502 for 17 years, said part of the property nearby is inhabited by gopher turtles, an endangered species.
“It’s going to be like we’re trapped,” added resident Diana Murphy.
Special Magistrate Archie O. Lowry Jr. recommended approval of two ordinances that change the land use for 4,518 acres and amends Wildwood’s comprehensive plan to help facilitate the development of up to 20,300 homes in the Villages of Southern Oaks on both sides of the Florida Turnpike. The ordinances will be considered at a future meeting of the Wildwood City Commission.
Before making his recommendations, Lowry questioned Darrin Taylor, an attorney representing the Villages Land Co., the project developer.
He asked Taylor why the project should not be considered urban sprawl.
“It’s a mixed-use, high quality development,” Taylor said. “You have a logical extension of what’s taking place.”
Taylor said 70 percent of the land already was designated for urban development while about 30 percent is agricultural.
Wildwood’s standards for protecting wetlands were adjusted for the project to match Sumter County’s standards, said city planner Ryan Howser.
He said the new standards recognize there are various types of wetlands and some may be more amenable to development than others.
Melanie Peavy, Wildwood director of development services, said the city’s standards may not need to be as restrictive as they were several years ago when other projects were approved.
