A 174-home development in Belleview got the green light on its master plan last week after a 37-minute discussion between Marion County officials and a local engineer that touched on the county’s future growth and the importance of “balanced planning.”
The master plan for the Highland Belleview East development was presented by David Tillman of Tillman Engineering on behalf of property owner C-25 Group, LLC, to the Marion County Board of County Commissioners during its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 16.
The planned development will be located on nearly 53 acres at 7730 E Hwy 25 in Belleview. Just over three acres of the property will be available for commercial development in the future.
The parcel was originally rezoned by commissioners to a planned unit development and approved for development on December 15, 2020. At the time, a condition of the original approval required the final master plan be brought back before the commission for final approval.
Before commissioners discussed the matter during last week’s meeting, two neighbors shared their opinions regarding the proposed development.
Frank Almeida, Jr. said his family farm is to the west and to the “entire south” of the subdivision. Almeida questioned the size of the lots and the continual development in the area, citing “1,600 homes” that have been approved over the “last two and a half years.”
“[Developers] come in, they buy the land, they build it out, they sell it. They’re gone. This money is going to Lakeland, they’re not even going to spend it in Marion County. It’s sad, it’s really sad,” said Almeida. He went on to lament that Belleview was no longer the “sleepy, little quiet town that it used to be.”
“This really is a travesty to the county,” said Almeida.
After Almeida spoke, a second neighbor to the east of the property complained about a request to move a buffer from his boundary, citing the possibility that residents and their children would wander into the area and disturb his livestock.
In addition to approval of the master plan, the developer had also sought modification of the location of the buffer planned for the eastern boundary. Although the master plan was ultimately approved, the modification of the buffer was not.
During an ensuing discussion on the details of the master plan, commissioners expressed multiple concerns related to the project, including the proposed size of the lots and the use of a utility easement to fulfill an open space requirement.
Commissioner Craig Curry acknowledged Almeida’s concerns and cited the county’s upcoming effort to review and revise the comprehensive plan, something the other commissioners echoed.
As the discussion continued, Mr. Tillman, who’s firm took over the project from another firm, took time to address the idea of moving to “preserve, preserve, preserve,” and not consider the current demand for housing in the county.
“We’ve got thousands upon thousands of people moving to this community. We are going to have to provide housing for them,” said Tillman, who went on to pose a series of hypothetical questions to commissioners. “Do we cut our entire county up into 10-acre lots for them to come here? Then we don’t have any of our big spacious farms anymore, we don’t have anything.”
“Do I build all these out as one-acre tracts,” said Tillman, before indicating that placing “a few homes” in that space would not be the most effective way to build out the urban growth boundary.
“Or do we put in something, one, that more people can afford, and two, use the density and put density where we should be putting density: Inside of our urban areas and inside of our urban growth boundary,” said Tillman, suggesting it requires “a balance of planning.”
“This saying, ‘we don’t want any of these size lots,’ isn’t a fair position to take, for people that are buying starter homes or step-up homes,” said Tillman.
After additional discussion, Commissioner Kathy Bryant offered her opinion on the matter.
“This is approved, you’ve got your density. We can’t take it away. This is just your master plan final approval. I would rather see the buffering stay where it was. It would be more useable space. I think that you need to hear this commission, clearly, because I think it’s been stated, on more than one occasion, moving forward, we’re going to want to see something different,” said Bryant.
The commissioner went on to suggest that she’s heard “1,000 times” that “we’ve got thousands of people moving here” and we “have to have a place to for them to live.”
“If you take into account all of the lots that are sitting out there that we already have vested, that we already have approved, there is availability out there,” said Bryant, before questioning what we “want our community to look like in 20 years.”
Tillman indicated that businesses and developers were all looking for “expectations” from the county, saying if board members wanted communities to look different, changes in policy were necessary. He cited the city of Ocala and said that if the county were to consider implementing form-based code, it could help it attain the “goals” that officials want to see.
“We need to have an expectation. I have to have an expectation when I stand in front of you. So if I’m given direction from y’all, I know what to try to bring back,” said Tillman.
After additional discussion and comments by the commissioners, the master plan was approved unanimously.
The Marion County Board of County Commissioners meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 9 a.m. in the McPherson Governmental Campus (601 SE 25th Avenue, Ocala).