Commissioner Jay Hurley, who voted with three others for the project, said residents have been referring to it as a “Silver Lake project.” It is, in fact, a County Road 44 development, he said.
“If you think this is the only development coming on 44 between Leesburg and Eustis, you’ve got another thing coming,” Hurley said. “There are 1,000 people a day moving to Florida every day. Not all of them are 55 and older and moving to The Villages, though it looks like it.”
Leesburg is trying to bring in business and residents to boost the economy, Hurley added.
“We don’t want to be the armpit of Lake County, to have everybody living anywhere but Leesburg, he continued. We don’t want to be the only city known for its crime rate or for the negativity that seems to be brought up a lot.”