City of Leesburg Planning Commission — June 18, 2026

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes — 5 of 9 members present Duration: ~104 minutes (4:30 PM – 6:14 PM)

Attendance

• Present: Tim Sennett (Chairman), Ted Bowersox, John O'Kelley, Ze'Shieca Carter, Shaun Robertson
• Absent: Nathaniel Sanders (Vice-Chairman), Frazier Marshall, Ken Simeone, Darin Akkerman
• Staff Present: Dan Miller (Planning & Zoning Director), Kandi Harper (Deputy Director), Sabrina Mitchell (Executive Assistant I), Dianne Yekel (Senior Planner), Max Van Allen (Senior Planner), Melissa Medders De Los Santos (Planner), Mel Ortiz (Planner), Sidra Gray (Intern), Jennifer Cotch (Attorney)

Note: A third-Thursday meeting, departing from the board's usual fourth-Thursday cadence. Ken Simeone — who authored both Reserve at 44 denial motions four weeks earlier — was absent. The largest residential entitlement heard by this board in 2026 was approved unanimously at this meeting.

Agenda Items

Item 1: Merritt Ranch — Large Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment

• Type: Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Large Scale)
• Case Number: LSCP-26-905
• Location: South of CR 48, west of North Austin Merritt Road, east of the Sumter County line — Section 07, Township 21 South, Range 24 East
• Applicant: Represented by Tara Tedrow, Lowndes law firm, 215 Lake Eola Drive, Orlando
• Request: Change the Future Land Use designation on 445.38 +/- acres from Lake County Rural and City Neighborhood Mixed Use to City Estate Residential
• Acreage: 445.38 +/-
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: APPROVED — recommendation forwarded to City Commission
• Vote: 5-0 (motion Robertson, second Bowersox; roll call: Sennett Yes, Carter Yes, Robertson Yes, Bowersox Yes, O'Kelley Yes)
• Notable Discussion: Presented and discussed jointly with Item 2; voted separately. See Item 2 for the substantive record.
• City Commission readings: Tentatively first reading Monday, July 13, 2026; second reading Monday, September 14, 2026

Item 2: Merritt Ranch — Planned Unit Development

• Type: Rezoning (Planned Unit Development)
• Case Number: PUD-26-906
• Location: South of CR 48, west of North Austin Merritt Road, east of the Sumter County line — Section 07, Township 21 South, Range 24 East
• Applicant: Represented by Tara Tedrow, Lowndes law firm
• Request: Rezone 445.38 +/- acres from Lake County A (Agriculture) and City R-1-A (Single Family Residential) to City PUD, for 523 detached single-family residential units at a gross density of 1.17 units per acre
• Current Zoning: Lake County A (Agriculture) and City R-1-A (Single Family Residential)
• Proposed Zoning: City of Leesburg PUD (Planned Unit Development)
• Acreage: 445.38 +/-
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: APPROVED — recommendation forwarded to City Commission
• Vote: 5-0 (motion Robertson, second Bowersox; roll call: Carter Yes, Robertson Yes, Bowersox Yes, O'Kelley Yes, Sennett Yes)
• Conditions: Three lot sizes with architectural standards read into the record; no uses other than detached single-family permitted; City of Leesburg water and wastewater with no wells or septic on the property; a phasing/expiration clause read into the record; plus the two conditions now added to all new PUDs — Section 4, landscape plans reviewed under the City's Landscape Code and the UF/IFAS list of Florida-friendly and pollinator-friendly plants, and Section 14, perpetual maintenance of the site by the HOA and residents (described by staff as giving code enforcement additional leverage). Per the PUD agreement, the applicant must provide all Lake County requirements including additional drainage, right-of-way for roads, trails, turn lanes, and acceleration and deceleration lanes.
• Notable Discussion: Tedrow argued the case as a down-zoning: 118 acres are currently in Lake County, the parcels are under common ownership, and the application cleans up jurisdictional boundaries. She stated the current designation permits office, industrial, commercial, and non-residential uses, that up to 85% of the property could be residential including apartments, townhomes, multi-family and villas, and that existing entitlements would yield substantially more units than the PUD requests. She also contrasted a 50% open space requirement against 66% provided, and described wetlands treatment and access points at CR 48, Shady Grove, and Youth Camp Road as preliminary, with final access determined through City/County staff and Fire Department review. Commissioners and Miller discussed the split of acreage between Leesburg and the County, the zoning map, south/east side access, CR 48 access, currently allowed density, and traffic impact concerns on Highways 48 and 33. Department review: no substantive City department comments; Public Works advised a separate utilities intake meeting is needed (standard); Lake County School Board noted the project is subject to school concurrency; Lake County Public Works comments noted. No public responses were received under State of Florida and City notice requirements.
• City Commission readings: Tentatively first reading Monday, July 13, 2026; second reading Monday, September 14, 2026

Item 3: Leesburg Square (Aldi Sign) — Variance

• Type: Variance (Final decision by Planning Commission)
• Case Number: VAR-26-992
• Location: South of US Hwy 441, west of Citrus Blvd, east of Thomas Ave — Section 15, Township 19 South, Range 24 East. Staff narrative identifies the site as Gator Plaza, at the corner of US 27 N (Citrus Blvd) and MLK Blvd.
• Applicant: Represented by Jay O. Berry, 2606 South Street, Leesburg
• Request: Variance to Sections 25-424(c)(2)a.5.i and 25-423(c) to allow an existing nonconforming sign to remain 30 feet in height in the C-3 district and to expand the copy area to 266 square feet
• Current Zoning: C-3 (Highway Commercial)
• Acreage: 25 +/- (shopping center site)
• Staff Recommendation: Deny — with an alternative option of approving at 25 feet and 200 square feet
• Action: DENIED as filed, then APPROVED as modified — two separate motions
• Vote:
  • Motion to DENY the 30-foot / 266 sf request: 5-0 (motion O'Kelley, second Bowersox; roll call: Robertson Yes, Bowersox Yes, O'Kelley Yes, Sennett Yes, Carter Yes)
  • Motion to APPROVE a 25-foot sign with a minimum 2-foot pedestal below and 200 square feet of signage on each side: 4-1 (motion O'Kelley, second Robertson; roll call: Carter Yes, Sennett No, O'Kelley Yes, Bowersox Yes, Robertson Yes)
• Conditions: Monument-style sign compliant with all City sign and building code requirements except as amended; maximum 25 feet measured from the ground, over a minimum 2-foot pedestal; maximum 200 square feet of sign area per face.
• Notable Discussion: Code allows 12 feet and 60 square feet per face for signs on major roadways being replaced or reconstructed; adding Gator Plaza's frontage extends the allowance to 20 feet and 200 square feet, making the existing 30-foot sign nonconforming. Staff recounted that the 2004 code amendment carried a seven-year amortization requiring replacement by 2010/2011, extended ten years to 2020/2021 because of the recession — the owner has had over 20 years to comply and changed sign faces during that period without bringing the sign into compliance. Staff stated on the record that it does not agree with the 12-foot height restriction for properties on major roadways such as US 27/441 with significant frontage or acreage, that it is "in the process of revising the current sign regulations," anticipating revised height limits and sign area maximums, and that 25 feet is "a reasonable compromise." Staff also stated plainly: "no other adequate justification for approving this variance request has been presented" and "No other competent substantial evidence has been provided to support the variance request." Berry said the applicant is amenable to removing the pylon sign on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and is seeking the best sign for the center's anchor tenants. Miller estimated non-compliance fines at roughly $100–$150 per day, calling it "not really a down side." Attorney Cotch clarified the law on nonconforming structures: signage may remain if not increased, and if damaged 50% or more the owner does not have the right to rebuild at the same size — including damage due to hurricanes.

Item 4: JCQ Leesburg Palmetto Drive — Large Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment

• Type: Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Large Scale)
• Case Number: LSCP-26-984
• Location: North of Plantation View Drive, south of Palmetto Drive, west of US Highway 27 — Section 36, Township 20 South, Range 24 East
• Applicant: Represented by Tanner Kalebaugh, Vice-President, Land Planning Group, 3013 Tavares Ridge Blvd, Tavares
• Request: Change the Future Land Use designation on 65.0 +/- acres. The noticed agenda states the change is from Lake County Urban Low Density to City of Leesburg Neighborhood Mixed Use; the ordinance title as recorded in the minutes omits the designations, and Miller's verbal summary described it as Lake County Urban Low to City Estate (4 u/a to 4 u/a). See Raw Notes.
• Acreage: 65.0 +/-
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: APPROVED — recommendation forwarded to City Commission
• Vote: 5-0 (motion Bowersox, second Robertson; roll call: Bowersox Yes, O'Kelley Yes, Sennett Yes, Carter Yes, Robertson Yes)
• Notable Discussion: Presented and discussed jointly with Item 5; voted separately. Attorney Cotch advised that the comprehensive plan amendment is "more high level" and that the specific conditions the neighbors sought — particularly the burn ban — belonged in the rezoning motion rather than this one.
• City Commission readings: Tentatively first reading Monday, August 10, 2026; second reading Monday, October 12, 2026

Item 5: JCQ Leesburg Palmetto Drive — Rezoning

• Type: Rezoning (Planned Unit Development)
• Case Number: RZ-26-985
• Location: North of Plantation View Drive, south of Palmetto Drive, west of US Highway 27 — Section 36, Township 20 South, Range 24 East
• Applicant: Represented by Tanner Kalebaugh, Land Planning Group
• Request: Rezone 65.0 +/- acres from Lake County A (Agriculture) to City of Leesburg PUD, for a mixed program of 56 detached single-family homes, 40 townhouses, 35 condominium units, and 38,000 square feet of commercial along US 27
• Current Zoning: Lake County A (Agriculture)
• Proposed Zoning: City of Leesburg PUD (Planned Unit Development)
• Acreage: 65.0 +/-
• Staff Recommendation: Approve
• Action: APPROVED with conditions added on the dais — recommendation forwarded to City Commission
• Vote: 5-0 (motion Bowersox, second Robertson; roll call: O'Kelley Yes, Sennett Yes, Carter Yes, Robertson Yes, Bowersox Yes)
• Conditions: The approving motion added, on top of the staff-drafted PUD: no two-story homes running north and south adjacent to the Plantation development — one story only south of the bend; a minimum 2-foot berm plus a 6-foot fence on the adjoining parcel; and a burn ban. Attorney Cotch stated the height condition as one story or 16 feet for single-family and townhome structures adjacent to Plantation at Leesburg, with non-adjacent structures at two stories or 35 feet. Standard PUD conditions also apply: design and architectural standards, the all-PUD IFAS landscape review and perpetual HOA maintenance clauses, boulevard-style access with emergency access, City water and wastewater with no wells or septic, and a phasing/expiration clause.
• Notable Discussion: Staff reported "significant public responses for disapproval" and said the PUD was written to take those comments into account. Kalebaugh stated the nearest existing single-family home in Plantation sits 1,480 feet from the proposed commercial. Miller worked the conditions live with the Commission — limiting stories adjacent to Plantation on the west side to one floor, adding berm-and-fence language (a 4-foot berm with a 6-foot fence was discussed before the motion settled on a minimum 2-foot berm plus 6-foot fence), and adding a no-burning provision to the PUD. Cotch advised that during construction the developer is generally allowed to burn, and that the motion should frame the burn ban around uses and the burning of trash or debris. An environmental impact study was completed showing no impact and no wetlands or flood zones on the site. Lake County School Board stated the residential portion is subject to school concurrency review with proportionate share mitigation possible — cash payment or a contract to provide student stations.
• City Commission readings: Tentatively first reading Monday, August 10, 2026; second reading Monday, October 12, 2026

Public Hearings Summary

• Number of speakers: Multiple residents on the JCQ Palmetto Drive pair, summarized collectively in the minutes rather than individually named. Zero public response on Merritt Ranch — the 445-acre, 523-unit case — and none recorded on the Aldi sign.
• General sentiment: Strongly opposed on JCQ Palmetto Drive; silent on everything else.
• Key concerns (JCQ Palmetto Drive): Speakers identified the adjacent Plantation as a 55+ community with many elderly residents, several with severe respiratory and pulmonary conditions, and argued that smoke from commercial smokehouse uses or on-site burning would be life-threatening. Requests included a buffer larger than 15 feet (speakers said they appreciated the 25-foot buffer), canopy trees, a 10-foot decorative opaque fence, single-story homes bordering Plantation, protection of existing drainage and stormwater runoff patterns, control of light spillover and ambient noise, an environmental assessment and gopher tortoise protections, and elevation and security barriers. Residents asked the Commission to deny the rezoning unless the protections were incorporated as binding conditions of approval. Additional concerns covered wildlife (coyotes, bobcats, turtles), water supply, and traffic on US 27.

Key Signals

• The largest residential entitlement of 2026 passed unanimously, on the geography where this board denies hardest. Merritt Ranch is 445.38 acres and 523 homes on a rural county arterial south of CR 48 — the same corridor where the Commission denied Lake Bright-Brighurst (202 acres, 502 units, $2.3M of intersection capital) 3-3 in January. It cleared 5-0, with Bowersox seconding both motions and O'Kelley voting yes. The corpus thesis that Leesburg's board filters against rural-arterial residential density does not survive this vote unmodified. Two variables changed: the applicant framed the request as a net down-zoning against existing entitlements, and not one member of the public objected.
• The down-zoning frame is the solvent, and Tara Tedrow brought it. Lowndes land-use attorney Tara Tedrow argued that the property's current designation already permits office, industrial, commercial, apartments, townhomes and villas across up to 85% of the site, and that 523 detached single-family homes at 1.17 units per acre with 66% open space against a 50% requirement is less intense than what is already entitled. That reframes the board's question from "should this density exist" to "is this less than what we already granted." Every prior denial in the corpus was argued as an increase. Applicants with legacy entitlements on north Lake acreage now have a demonstrated template.
• Opposition tracks adjacency, not scale. Merritt Ranch — 523 units on 445 acres — drew zero public comment. JCQ Palmetto Drive — 131 units and 38,000 sf of commercial on 65 acres — drew "significant public responses for disapproval" and a room full of speakers, because it abuts an existing 55+ community. For anyone modeling entitlement risk in Leesburg, the predictor is the number of occupied homes on the property line, not the unit count on the plan.
• The board has switched from denying to conditioning. JCQ arrived with organized opposition asking the Commission to deny unless binding protections attached. Four weeks earlier that posture produced the Reserve at 44 denial. Here the Commission approved 5-0 and wrote the neighbors' asks into the motion — one-story limit south of the bend, 2-foot berm plus 6-foot fence, burn ban — with Dan Miller negotiating terms live on the dais and the City Attorney drafting the height language in real time. The Sennett-era "approve-with-conditions" mode is operating again, and it produced most of what the opposition asked for without a denial the applicant could appeal.
• The Aldi sign established a two-motion template: deny as filed, approve the staff compromise. The Commission denied the 30-foot, 266-square-foot request 5-0, then immediately approved a 25-foot, 200-square-foot monument sign 4-1 with Sennett the lone dissent. Staff had recommended denial while explicitly offering the alternative — and stated on the record that it disagrees with the City's own 12-foot limit on major roadways. The structure lets the board refuse an application without refusing the applicant relief.
• A Leesburg sign code rewrite is in progress and is being pre-applied case by case. Staff said it is revising the sign regulations, anticipating changes to height limits, sign area maximums, and overall requirements, and that the anticipated standard "can be implemented here as a variance." Commercial property owners on US 27/441 with nonconforming signs now have both a signal about where the code is heading and a demonstrated path — 25 feet and 200 square feet — for getting there before it is written. Watch for the sign text amendment to reach a Planning Commission agenda.
• North Leesburg's entitlement activity is orienting toward the Sumter County line and The Villages. Merritt Ranch runs to the Sumter County line; the July 23 docket carries a conversion of 37 acres near CR 470 and the Turnpike from commercial to Age Restricted Development. Two consecutive months of large north-and-west entitlement activity in the direction of The Villages growth front is a directional change from the 2024–2025 pattern, which centered on the CR-48 / CR-33 / US-27 triangle south of the city.

Raw Notes

• Minutes from the May 21, 2026 meeting approved 5-0 (Carter moved, Robertson seconded).
• Unreconciled figures in the source (Merritt Ranch): the ordinance titles on both the agenda and the minutes state 445.38 +/- acres, and staff stated 523 units at 1.17 u/a (which is arithmetically consistent with 445 acres). The summary minutes separately render "proposal consist of 654 acres" in the staff narrative, and Tedrow's presentation is summarized with the figures 1,125 dwelling units, "reduction to 602 units," and a "1,259 unit difference" — these are internally inconsistent as transcribed and are recorded here only as the applicant's down-zoning argument, not as established quantities. The 445.38-acre / 523-unit figures are the ones carried in the ordinance and staff recommendation.
• Noticed-versus-heard discrepancy (JCQ LSCP-26-984): the June 18 agenda notices the Future Land Use change as "FROM LAKE COUNTY URBAN LOW DENSITY TO CITY OF LEESBURG NEIGHBORHOOD MIXED USE." The ordinance title as reproduced in the minutes omits the from/to designations entirely, and Miller's verbal summary said "Lake County Urban Low to City Estate (4 U/A to 4 U/A)." The proposed program — townhouses, condominiums, and 38,000 sf of commercial — is consistent with Neighborhood Mixed Use, not Estate. The agenda designation is the noticed request; the discrepancy is unresolved on the face of these two documents and should be checked against the City Commission ordinance.
• Reading dates moved: the June 18 agenda listed the JCQ City Commission readings as July 13 and September 14; the minutes record them as August 10 and October 12. Merritt Ranch's July 13 / September 14 dates are unchanged between the two documents.
• The site in Item 3 is referred to as both "Leesburg Square" (case title) and "Gator Plaza" (staff narrative). US 27 and US 441 are co-signed through this section of Leesburg, which is why the ordinance title says US 441 and the staff narrative says US 27 N for the same frontage.
• Items 1, 2, 4, and 5 forward recommendations to the City Commission. Item 3 is final at the Planning Commission.
• Announcements: Sennett recognized Sabrina Mitchell's 20 years of service, to be honored at the following Monday's City Commission meeting. Miller noted the City proclaimed June as Alzheimer's Awareness Month under the theme "purple for a purpose," with downtown lit in purple, and announced a 5K and Juneteenth events that Saturday. Miller also announced that Vice-Chairman Nate Sanders' brother had passed away in Cincinnati — Sanders was absent from this meeting.
• Sidra Gray attended as an intern — the first intern recorded in the Leesburg staff roster in this corpus.
• Status note: these minutes are marked pending-approval. The July 23, 2026 agenda schedules "APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 18, 2026 SUMMARY MINUTES"; no minutes confirming that approval were posted as of this harvest.
• Meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m.