An airplane cruising over western portions of Lake County offers no clue of what’s to come. Tranquil scenes of grazing cattle, trees and lakes will soon be replaced by rooftops – thousands of rooftops, cul-de-sacs, stores and cars, lots of cars.

Now under review by the state is one of those developments — Oak Ridge — a planned 596-acre neighborhood, with more than 600 single-family homes and 260 duplexes.

Approved by Leesburg City Commissioners in July, it is one of three neighborhoods that will be consolidated into the Oak Ridge Community Development District, a 750-acre master-planned community by Dix Developments that will have up to 1,466 new homes, according to online GrowthSpotter.

Dix Developments did not return repeated requests for comment, but the numbers have been verified by Leesburg officials.

Growthspotter

The development is just part of the explosive growth stretching from Leesburg to the Orange County border.

Neighbors of proposed developments have for some time been turning out in public hearings with concerns about water, traffic and crowding. However, the issue of traffic is being addressed in part, at least one location.

Lake County Commissioners on Sept. 9 approved an agreement with Trinity Land Company LLC for construction of intersection improvements at County Roads 470, 48 and 33 in Okahumpka.

The developer has agreed to use its impact fees for the $2 million project, according to Jeff Earhart, county engineer director.

Trinity sells homes at its Trinity Lakes and Blue Springs Reserve developments in the Groveland area.

Trinity Family Builders

The city of Leesburg set development on a rocket trajectory in 2017 when it sold 1,200 acres of a former wastewater treatment sprayfield to The Villages for more than 3,000 homes at CR 470 and Florida’s Turnpike.

More recently, The Villages purchased the vacant 3,700-acre Secret Promise property near the Sumter County line, with plans to build about 6,800 homes on 1,400 acres.

The mega retirement company also purchased the 3,400-acre Monarch Ranch in Sumter County near Wildwood at Interstate 75 and the Turnpike for an industrial site.

Other developers’ projects include:

· Hundreds of planned Denham Villages homes on 506 acres near Florida’s Turnpike. It is not related to the 600-home Lake Denham Estates farther north on U.S. 27.

· More than 300 apartments for Tierra Vista on 35 acres south of the Turnpike and east of CR 33.

Tierra Vista Development | Growthspotter

U.S. Highway 27 is home to thousands of homes, including ongoing construction of hundreds of homes at the 1,600-acre Whispering Hills project. Leesburg commissioners also approved plans for 402 single-family homes on about 150 acres next to the mega Dubai-funded project.

Not every elected official is gung-ho on new developments.

“I’ve been working so hard with Leesburg to rein in growth,” says County Commissioner Leslie Campione.

Saying she is “trying to thread the needle,” she is trying to get a planning agreement in place where the incorporated city and unincorporated county areas meet.

Lake County Chairwoman Leslie Campione

One of the concerns of many people is the state’s supply of fresh water. Developments have to get permission from the St. Johns River Water Management District. That agency has been fairly restrictive, she says.

On the other hand, local governments are alarmed at moves by the state Legislature to take away their authority.

Florida Senate Bill 180 was designed to protect property owners from becoming entangled in burdensome rebuilding rules after a hurricane. It states:

“… one year after a hurricane makes landfall, the bill prohibits certain counties and municipalities from proposing or adopting a moratorium on the construction or redevelopment of property or more restrictive or burdensome regulations or procedures pertaining to land development.”

The bill provides a way for an individual to sue local government.

“For Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Helene, and Hurricane Milton, the bill provides similar prohibitions on construction moratoriums and burdensome or restrictive regulations. The provisions apply until October 1, 2027, and are applied retroactively to August 1, 2024.”

Aerial damage of Britt Road in Lake County following Hurricane Milton. (Lake County)

Lake suffered damage from Hurricane Milton last October. In fact, it is still waiting to be reimbursed $13 million for its expenses, according to Campione.

It is not the first intrusion on local governments. Last year, lawmakers passed the Live Local Act that prohibited municipalities from imposing restrictions on affordable housing developments such as rezoning, land-use change, special exceptions, conditional use approval, variance, or comprehensive plan amendment for the building height, zoning, or density. Some local governments have filed lawsuits over the matter.

Public hearings also bring out residents worried about school crowding. Developers pay impact fees, including for schools, but the county is limited on how much they can charge during certain periods.

As for roads, public officials sometimes point fingers and say it is a county or a city road, or maybe a state or U.S. highway. But the state has no big plans to improve or build roads locally, and the county has no pot of money to tap, Campione notes.