Groveland considers more annexation to the north potentially destroying Rural Protection Area

Monday night at 7pm the Groveland City Council will consider an annexation request for 384 more acres heading north into the rural area just south of Howey in the Hills and north of the turnpike. Earlier this year Groveland annexed approximately 2000 acres north of the turnpike with the focus of creating a new industrial park.

The industrial park annexation was supported in the community and was on the south side of the new Rural Protection Area that the County included in its new 2030 Comprehensive Plan. However, the owners of the land requesting this annexation will be requesting Groveland's comprehensive plan to allow more than 1,100 homes on the 384 acres. Currently one home per 5 acres are allowed on the property and the area is slated by the County as a long term Rural Protection area through 2030.

The idea behind the Rural Protection Areas is to preserve some rural areas between cities, provide areas where rural lifestyles can be maintained, and to provide a focus for the cities to keep their development compact, reducing the cost of services such as water, sewer, police, roads, etc.

The annexation request, although contiguous, looks to be less than compact - one of the requirements under Florida's growth management laws.

Hopefully the County Commissioners will review the annexation, engage in dialog with Groveland, and request Groveland to deny this annexation into the Rural Protection Area and focus on areas much closer to the Groveland downtown area, more than 7 miles south.

We hope the Groveland City Council led by Mayor Richard Smith can see the value in preserving some rural areas resulting in lower taxes for the citizens of the City of Groveland.

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See the Orlando Sentinel story.

Comments

[L P C]

Just found out about this today after getting the notice of public hearing on January 19th in the mail. Howey residents need to fight this we live here because we want the quiet country life; not 1,100 homes out our front window.

[PK in Groveland]

Mayor Smith, in the Sentinel article said he didn't want to turn anybody down. This is not planning for the future of Groveland and it's not caring about anybody else. He should be carefully considering the cost to Groveland taxpayers, focusing on improving the dumpy downtown (or creating one) not continuing to spread like cancer and ruin the rest of the County.

Sure wish he and others in Groveland could see the value in turning this down to preserve some rural areas between cities. The county and Groveland is just turning into more of a dump.