[UsuallyLurking]

In today's paper paper (front page of the local news section) is an article entitled "Apartments Planned In Former Restaurant." It quotes a developer official to the effect that we should not assume that all of the 286 amenity contracts that were part of the AAC vote would all be used at Hacienda Hills. The article states that the developer "envisions that the first units, probably 10 or fewer, would be developed in the Van Patten Building, home of the former Katie Belle's dining club."

In 2015, the AAC gave the developer 300 amenity contracts for the specific purpose of independent living or assisted living facilities. Since then, 14 of the contracts have been used by the developer. What the AAC was asked to vote on related to the remaining 286 contracts. The AAC was asked to authorize changing the purpose of the remaining contract from independent/assisted living to age-restricted contracts. In return for that authorization, the developer would agree to build amenities on the Hacienda Hills site which it would pay for and maintain but would be available to all villagers. (The AAC is only in the business of amenities, not other things such as, say, restaurants, so only amenities were mentioned in the agreement.)

Comments:

1. While I, and I suspect most other people at the AAC meeting, assumed that all the contracts would be applied to Hacienda Hills, without that being explicitly in the agreement we should not be surprised that the developer might use at least some of them elsewhere.

2. To the extent that the developer uses the contracts elsewhere, there is a possibility that the footprint may be reduced of whatever gets built in Hacienda Hills (noting that the initial 10 contracts or so out of 286 will not make much of a difference). Until designs are made public, we won't know what impact the amenities and units will have, if any, on the Hacienda nines.

3. Anything the developer does will require planning/zoning approval, which is outside the purview of the district in general and the AAC in particular. Sumter County has jurisdiction over Hacienda Hills, and, according to today's article, Lady Lake officials are already involved in discussions about development in the Spanish Springs area. Residents and others will have additional opportunities to voice their opinions on what happens in both Hacienda Hills and Spanish Springs.

4. (Separating out political comments, and sticking them at the end...) The Republican primary election resulted in turning three Sumter County commissioners into lame ducks. But, the victors in the primary have not been elected; that won't happen until November. If you believe that the developer is a puppet-master who tries to pull the strings of local government, you might think that the write-in candidates put into place to make the primary election open only to declared Republicans might get support, and full-page ads, prior to the November election. But, the developer also wants to get approval to put up a complex of some sort at Hacienda Hills, which the winners of the primary election might not be amenable to. The temptation might be to have the current commission give approval to plans prior to the new commissioners being sworn in. But, that could remind all those voters who went for the insurgents and might have thought that was the end of it of why they wanted to ditch the incumbents. It would seem to me that the developer is between a rock and a hard place. (Full disclosure: I'm a resident of the Marion County section of TV, so I am looking upon these sorts of things the way the rest of the country looks upon Florida Man stories.)

[JoMar]

I would suggest you contact the County and ask what zoning or approvals will be needed. You might be surprised.

[dewilson58]

Yawn.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Yawn.

Yeah, as in who really cares?

Has anyone really thought that the rental price paid every month (at Brownwood and the future units at Hacienda and Katie Belle's) probably has the amenity fees included (hidden) in them?

[Bay Kid]

I would rather see people renting in a group area instead of my neighbors home.