City Commissioners Monday approved plans for a 276-unit rent-restricted apartment complex on 19 acres at U.S. Highway 27 and County Road 25A despite concerns about traffic and density.

“It’s just a bad location,” says Jay Connell, who voted against it, along with Jimmy Burry in a 3-2 vote.

Plans call for 10 three-story units, adding to the traffic jam that already exists in the area, a handful of residents complained.

There is no left turn lane coming out of the nearby Ravenswood and Lake Denham Estates subdivisions and traffic is backed up every morning from County Road 48 and U.S. 27 to Dixie Avenue, Connell noted, saying it takes 30 minutes to go five miles.

Dominium, headquartered in Dallas, touts itself as one of the nation’s leading affordable housing and management companies, with 40,000 apartments.

Plans for the Leesburg location includes a pool, club house and community center.

To increase the buffer between the complex and neighboring homes, the developer was allowed to lower the parking per unit to 1.8 spaces, Connell said.

It was another sticking point for Connell, who had become a vocal opponent of what he considers to be runaway growth. “Some of these are three and four-bedroom apartments. Where are their guests going to park?”

The city Planning and Zoning Commission, in its advisory role, voted 4-2 last month against rezoning the property to planned unit development. It came up for discussion on Dec. 8.

“We need more commercial growth,” Connell says, “not more residential.”

He says the city has already approved developments for 40,000 residents. It is going to put a big demand on the city for water and sewer.

Commissioner Alan Reisman added as a stipulation to his vote that the developer not seek the use of the Live Local Act, according to city Planning Director Dan Miller. That measure allows developers of apartment complexes to skip public hearings on their plans.

“That sounds great,” says Burry, but he believes there is no way to enforce it.

Burry voted against the apartment plan because it was just two years ago or so that the city reviewed its comprehensive growth plan, and that plan called for commercial and low density residential on that spot.

Despite citizen complaints about crowding and traffic, Leesburg is still just the third fastest growing city in Lake County. “Clermont is growing faster than we are,” Burry says.

Commissioners are faced with competing views: Providing jobs, property owner rights and complaining residents. “I’m just making the best judgment I know how,” Burry says.

Retirees in neighboring Corley Island mobile home park certainly have expressed concerns about traffic, noise and crime.

“We value our peaceful, safe and private community with no extra noise, no loose pets or children coming around,” one resident wrote.