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Panel backs more condos

Meadowcrest's developer hopes the County Commission will also say yes to building 46 extra condominium units.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published January 21, 2006

CRYSTAL RIVER - The planning board recommended this week that the County Commission allow Meadowcrest's developer to build more condominiums than originally planned.

A 17.3-acre portion, dubbed Summerhill at Meadowcrest, would feature 14 three-story buildings containing units ranging from about 1,200 to 1,600 square feet.

Meadowcrest residents opposed to the change packed the seats in Room 166 of the Lecanto Government Building on Thursday. Several addressed the Planning and Development Review Board.

Chuck Hoffman, president of the Fairmont Village Property Owners Association, said residents of the Meadowcrest single-family home community were surprised that condo complexes could soon be sprouting up next door.

"They feel like they've been hit by a truck," he said.

Ultimately, the board voted 6-1 to approve the change, with the majority agreeing with the county staff's analysis that the change was not a significant alteration to the approved master plan.

The County Commission will review the proposed change in a workshop Tuesday and vote in a hearing slated for Feb. 14.

Meadowcrest's developer originally planned to place institutional buildings like assisted living facilities or churches on the property in question, which is in the northeast corner of the 340-acre development. The development's master plan allows for 150 attached residential units on that portion of the property.

Now developer Gulf-to-Lakes Associates is asking the county to change the project's master plan to eliminate the institutional buildings and allow for 46 additional condo units.

The project's Web site, www.mysummerhill.com boasts: "COMING SOON Luxurious 2- and 3-bedroom condominiums and townhomes in Crystal River's most sought-after community."

Prices would start at $170,000.

Attorney Clark Stillwell, who represents the developer, told the planning board that the addition would increase open space, improve traffic patterns and enhance the value of Meadowcrest properties.

"We think it fits into the site," he said.

But several Meadowcrest residents at the meeting - the majority of whom live in the Fairmont Village section directly south of the proposed addition - disagreed.

"The density of those units is not compatible with our small residential community," said Sandra Dunham, 70.

Other residents expressed concerns about the project's impact on traffic.

They noted that it would have an entrance on MacVicar Road near Fairmont Village's only entrance, and said that could cause traffic bottlenecks or car accidents.

As the addition's lone dissenter at Thursday's meeting, planning board member Marion Knudsen said she cast her nay vote with a "capital letter No."

"If I lived in an area with all single-family homes, I would be extremely upset ... to have to look at condos," she said.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified January 21, 2006, 01:33:17]