Sumter County Commissioners on Tuesday rejected a proposal for development of an urban apartment complex adjacent to the Tri-County Villages just east of Oxford.

County Commissioners Joey Chandler, Jim Roberts and Robin Cox voted for a motion by Roberts to deny comprehensive plan amendments that would have allowed Rock Properties, Inc., to build up to a 296-unit apartment complex on an almost 20-acre site on C.R. 101. Commission Chairman Benny Strickland and Commissioner Billy "Tiny" Rutter voted against denial of the application.

Their votes brought cheers and applause from a large group of citizens - apparently most from the Villages - who showed up to object to the proposed development.

Many of those who addressed the board said they lived in Villages communities on the east side of C.R. 101 and did not want that they did not want high-density multi-family housing in the area.

Rock Properties wanted to convert the property just west of the Villages to an "urban high density" designation, a proposed land use category that would allow up to 16 housing units per acre.

And, along with the failure of Rock Properties to gain approval, a second application by a neighboring property owner came to an end. A proposed project for an 80 acre site on C.R. 101 was "muted" by the lack of the comprehensive plan text change for the new land use designation, said Robbie Rogers, county director of planning and development.

With the growth of the Villages to a truly urban area, it appeared to be an appropriate time to consider a high-density land use designation, Rogers said.

The designation was proposed with "strict guideline" such as having urban infrastructure items as water and sewer services and a nearby commercial development, she said.

The 16-unit per acre density level would have been a considerable jump from the current comprehensive plan categories. Roberts noted that the current rule allows a high density of only six units per acre (eight per acre in some limited situations).

Jack Sullivan, a planning consultant who usually represents the Villages of Lake and Sumter, Inc., on their land use changes, represented Rock Properties.

Sullivan said that the land use density was "too low," that the growth in the Villages has led to "a dramatic increase in the demand for non-retirement housing."

The proposed density levels would make multi-family housing much more feasible, he said.

Sullivan said he had heard concerns about "the class of people who would be living in these apartments." Many of them would likely be Villages employees.

He presented the board with a number of statistics that he said were gathered from a survey of Villages workers. "It sounds an awful lot like most American communities," he said.

He also noted that there would be occupancy restrictions on each apartment and that no more than four unrelated people would be allowed to share a single apartment. There would also be criminal background checks for residents.

Sullivan's presentation was followed by David Rivenbark, from Fishkind and Associates, who presented some details from a university study of the impacts of multi-family housing on property values.

He said that the study concluded that property values tended to increase in the vicinity of multi-family apartments and the least increase in property values occurred in areas of single-family housing.

But, the survey didn't impress Roberts or the crowd.

"The Van Hoffman report is like comparing apples to oranges, considering that it studied areas like Chicago and Lost Angeles," Roberts said.

Roberts also questioned if the county was prepared to deal with the additional solid waste.

Cox raised concern about noise control in such a complex.

Many from the Villages - particularly those in communities in the immediate vicinity of the proposed project - told the board their concerns about traffic, destroying the character of the area, crime, and potentially many children living adjacent to a retirement community.

Russell Day, a long-time Villages resident, was the first in a series of citizens to object to the proposal.

He had some questions about the price range and was told the apartments would be unsubsidized and would vary from about $650 a month to about $1,200.

"I recommend you turn it down," Day told the board. " You have enough density now. You don't have the roads."

Other Villages residents apparently felt the same.

It is a "beautiful place," Martin Kutnyak said. "The character of the Villages is unique - there is nothing like it any place else."

He said he is concerned about the possible impact the project could have on the nearby Villages charter school and the traffic.

"There are no children allowed in the Villages and now your coming in with a population that would have a high percentage of children," Kutnyak said. "The commission needs to take a hard look at this."

William Schuler told the board that there is already a density problem and that this would "cause the problem to explode."

"You've got a traffic problem now - you need to solve that first," he said.

Sal Reggio seemed to capture the sentiment of most all of the residents.

"Would you buy a retirement home next to a high density urban multi-family housing complex," he asked the board? "If most of these residents had been told they would have been next to this, they wouldn't have bought."

That comment brought a collective "yes" from the audience.

"I see it as building a factory in the middle of a beautiful park," Reggio said. "It shouldn't happen."

Resident John Compo commented on Sullivan's statistics about the distance that some workers were commuting to the Villages.

"Why do we need to bring them so close," Compo said. "We want people who are just like us."

Retired school principal Paul Kearney said he had seen first hand the impact a couple of high-density complexes can have on public schools.

Beautiful new complexes built near a school where he worked deteriorated in about three years, Kearney said.

There were hoards of teenagers roaming about and getting into crime and there was always a police presence, he said.

The schools grew by about 1,500 students, many with emotional and parental problems and the schools were overcrowded, he said. Before long, academic scores were dropping.

"You can expect everything that I talked about," Kearney said, noting that hundreds would be moving in from other counties.

"The impact will be felt in all of Sumter's schools," he said.

Roberts agreed.

"We have to consider that there could be up to 900 additional students," Roberts said. "How does it weigh on Wildwood's schools."

Rogers suggested that additional students might actually be welcome as enrollment had dropped some at Wildwood High School. She also noted that the school district had registered no objections to the proposed land use change.

Roberts said he did not believe that the cited study on property values was applicable.

"This would have a long term effect," he said. " We need to consider if we want to go down that road. We need to think hard about schools, traffic, water and solid waste."

Cox said that he had heard many comments critical of Villages workers.

"They need a place to stay, let's don't knock them," Cox said.

He agreed that there is a need for housing, but said he is concerned about what the situation could be in 10 years. "We have no control of this."

Strickland said the board has rejected other apartment proposals.

"Where ever you want to put it, nobody wants it," Strickland said.