SORRENTO, Fla. – Neighbors in a rural pocket of Lake County are fighting back against plans to transform hundreds of acres of pasture and scrubland into a 1,725-unit mixed-use development.
The project, known as Hillcrest, is slated to be built on a 466-acre property near County Road 437 and State Road 46 just south of Sorrento.
Like most folks who live in rural parts of Central Florida, JJ Johnson moved to the Sorrento area 26 years ago for a reason. He says he values the atmosphere and wants to preserve it.
“When we moved up here, we said, ‘At least this won’t be another Clermont.’ Well, it may be,” he said. “There’s just so much beauty and nature here that needs to be protected.”
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Lake County’s landscape is changing as rapid growth fuels development, and it’s creeping closer to the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento area.
“The Wekiva Parkway, as it came through, we knew it would bring people, but the growth has to be done smart,” Johnson said. “This is not smart; this is just dense growth.”
The developers behind Hillcrest plan to build a mixed-use community featuring a combination of single-family homes, apartments and townhomes. A total of 1,725 units are proposed as well as 300,000 square feet of commercial space.
“That’s like a city in the middle of the country,” Johnson said. “It’s going to go from being a rural community into sub-rural at worst, if not becoming suburban, as Apopka keeps getting closer and closer or Mount Dora keeps getting closer and closer. It’s badly affecting our quality of life here.”
The project falls in Lake County’s Mount Plymouth-Sorrento Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), so the county is eager to revitalize the neighborhood.
Leaders also need more housing as the county is expected to add another 75,000 new residents by 2030.
“I don’t think buy that argument,” Johnson said. “I mean, there are so many places being built.”
As Lake County’s director of planning and zoning, Michael Fitzgerald often hears from neighbors concerned with proposed developments.
“We absolutely take into consideration how projects like this affect the lifestyle in Lake County,” Fitzgerald said. “One thing everybody has to remember is that quality of life means something different to everybody. For some folks, it may mean 10 acres of property. For others, it may mean an apartment with a Starbucks on the first floor, so we just have to be mindful of what quality of life means to different people.”
The Hillcrest development still has some hurdles to clear, including approval from Lake County commissioners.
The project is set to be discussed again April 3.
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