49th Street Gateway development

Ocala Park Estates resident said 44th Avenue is already a parking lot during I-75 accidents and asked why the county won't fix what's broken before adding more development.

Questioned adding 535 homes when the county has 23,000 vacant homes, overcrowded schools, and roughly a thousand homeless residents.

Owns 15 acres bordering the site; asked for a solid wall or fence and a 30-foot buffer to keep trespassers off his property and away from his horses.

Asked three questions: total traffic impact, emergency-vehicle access and safety, and protection of the aquifer and drainage.

Part owner of property on NW 49th Street; worried the 200-year-old live oaks will be destroyed and asked the board to postpone until the community really understands what's planned.

Her family has owned the land 60 years; she challenged the board to preserve natural beauty at the new interchange like the Georgia Buc-ee's, rather than 535 homes, or at least take more time.

Fountain subdivision resident noted the PUD use list reads like a truck stop, said the proposed 20-foot buffer is nothing against highway noise from 2,500 feet away, and said the county doesn't have a plan or the infrastructure.

Said the applicant has only a 'blank envelope' with no detailed engineering, so the county should start with standard buffers and reduce later if engineering justifies it.

Her family has farmed 20 acres across from the site since 1966; she asked about traffic, noise, lighting, drainage, loss of century-old trees, and safety with no access onto the new four-lane road.

Called it an emotional, sad day; said Waze reroutes interstate traffic onto 44th Avenue, which already backs up, and Amazon and new subdivisions are compounding congestion.

Lives across from the property; said the roads can't handle the added traffic, the buffer won't preserve the quiet, and he fears losing safety and access.

Owns 15.3 acres abutting the site; asked for a Type C buffer with a wall to keep people away from his horses, and questioned what else 'employment center' could bring.