Villages denies water and sewer hookup to nearby apartment complex
Villages News Feb 29, 2020
The Villages has denied water and sewer hookup to a massive apartment complex going up near the Haciendas of Mission Hills.
The apartment complex will include 300 units and is being built at the intersection of County Road 466 and Cherry Lake Road, at the far edge of Sumter County. The property will also become home to nearly 20,000 square feet of commercial development and more than 100 units at an assisted living facility, according to documents on file with Sumter County.
The 300 apartment units will be constructed very near The Villages. “Although the property is situated in Sumter County, the property is surrounded by properties of The Villages. Because the land is not a holding of The Villages, they will not allow connection to The Villages infrastructure,” according to a memo prepared for Lady Lake commissioners.
The owners of the 40-acre property more than a decade ago turned to Lady Lake for water and sewer hookup. Last year, Sumter County granted permits to allow the start of the project. The trees have been cleared and the land is being prepared for the massive construction project.
The town has modified its service area boundary through the St. John’s River Water Management District to serve the property under the town’s Consumptive Use Permit. Sumter County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District have also signed off on the arrangement.
The apartment complex will be situated at the corner of County Road 466 and Cherry Lake Road, in Sumter County. The nearly 300 units will require about 74,500 gallons of water per day from Lady Lake.
In 2019, the town’s average withdrawal of water was 730,193 gallons per day. The town’s Consumptive Use Permit allows 1.118 million gallons per day through the year 2026.
“Trends indicate that the town will have sufficient capacity to grant the additional 74,500 gallons per day and remain under 90 percent of the allocated withdrawal of the Consumptive Use Permit through 2026,” said the document prepared for Lady Lake commissioners.
This could represent a financial windfall for Lady Lake, which could potentially pocket $678,327 in water impact fees, $842,084 in sewer impact fees and an additional $42,000 in annual surcharge revenues.
A special meeting on that topic will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 2 at Lady Lake Town Hall.
In 2018, the residents of the Haciendas of Mission Hills complained before the Sumter County Commission about the construction of the massive apartment complex in what is essentially their backyard.
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