Nearly a year and a half after initial efforts to annex the property fell apart, Hanover Land Company is again looking to annex and receive approval to develop its Lake Bright-Brighurst Planned Unit Development, or PUD, in Leesburg.
By a 4-1 vote, the Leesburg City Commission moved consideration of the project to a second reading of ordinances set for next month.
The proposed 502-home subdivision would rise on 208 acres straddling County Road 33, just over a mile and a half south of its intersection with Florida’s Turnpike and north of Bridges Road. The proposed PUD would contain all detached single-family homes on 50- and 60-foot lots and would be developed over four phases.
Hanover is seeking annexation of the 208-acre subject property, a rezoning from Lake County Agriculture to Leesburg PUD and a land use change from Lake County Rural to Leesburg Estate Residential.
Back in September 2024, Leesburg commissioners voted 3-1 to move forward with an annexation request for the project and transmit it to the state before holding a second reading of ordinances that would give the project final approval.
Following several comments from commissioners and residents worried about the lack of a traffic study, overcrowding at area schools and a significant change to the rural character of the area, the commission voted 4-1 to deny the project ordinances during its initial second reading in November 2024.
Last month, members of the Leesburg Planning Commission were split 3-3 in a vote to recommend denial of the project. Due to the tie vote, the formal recommendation given to the city commission was to deny the project.
At Monday’s city commission meeting, GAI Consultants Planning Manager Andrew McCown, representing Hanover, said the applicant revised the plan to address previous concerns.
The new plan reduces the total lot count by 16 homesites and changes ratio of smaller and larger lots. The 2024 plan called for a 405:113 ratio of 50-foot and 60-foot lots. The revised plan calls for 299 50-foot lots and 203 of the larger lots on the perimeter of the neighborhood to improve market diversity.
Enhanced amenities for the development, according to McCown, will include two zero-entry — also known as walk-in — pools with play elements and gazebos, two shaded playgrounds, sports fields, multiple neighborhood parks, and a trail around Lake Bright. McCown said both sides of the project will have similar amenities, allowing residents to access them without having to cross CR33.
An update from the previous attempt at project approval, McCown said Hanover had a traffic study completed by Traffic Mobility Consultants and reviewed by Lake County staff, who found the project consistent with county standards for “growth rates, background traffic and distribution.”
According to McCown, the developer is funding intersection improvements at CR470, CR48 and CR33, a few miles north of the project site near Okahumpka.
“There was no funding that was allocated for this project; it was under design, but it was not funded within the next five years,” McCown said. “This is a project that Hanover was able to partner with the county and generate a funded project in the city… we feel it’s a game changer for the city.”
The $2.3 million intersection improvements will create new turn lanes, signalization, milling and repaving, new safety shoulders, widening, crosswalks and drainage. Construction will start within 6 months of PUD approval and will be finished within 18 months, according to McCown, with the improvements fully constructed before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued for the development.
Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of moving the project to a second reading next month over the objections of several speakers. Commissioner Jay Connell issued the sole ‘no’ vote.
The second reading of ordinances, where the project will receive approval or denial, will take place during the March 23 Leesburg City Commission meeting.
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