Continued residential and business growth is impacting North Lake County, but one community leader said its the intention of city leadership to maintain a rural lifestyle.Umatilla’s new city manager, Aaron Mercer, spoke with WESH 2 ahead of a vote to waive all future annexation fees for properties seeking to join the city, whether residential, commercial or industrial.“Anybody that wants to be part of the city, we don’t need to charge them thousands of dollars to do so. We welcome them,” Mercer said. “Once they pay their taxes in a few years, we recoup those fees. It’s a win-win for everybody.” Mercer has only held the position of city manager for two days, after prior city manager Scott Blankenship stepped down from his role last week. Mercer, who’s held a leadership position with Umatilla for years, said a leadership transition has been in the works for some time.He said, ultimately, his goal and that of city council and the mayor is for Umatilla to maintain its rural character despite all the explosive growth happening just south of it in Eustis and Mount Dora. “There’s nothing really north of town. We don’t have any sewer north of town. Without sewer, you would look at large lot subdivisions, quarter acre, half acre, third acre lots,” Mercer said, adding that the minimum lot size in Umatilla is 14,000 sq. ft. compared with smaller lot sizes allowed in other municipalities. “We love our rural lifestyle here and we have made it a point to keep our rural lifestyle.” He said annexation fees have been waived for commercial properties in the past, and the purpose of doing so now for all properties is to make it easier for landowners to join city services.Meanwhile, two new subdivisions going in on the southern end of the city promise to add more than 600 homes.“That is a 33 percent increase in our population, just those two projects alone,” Mercer said. “We have enough housing. We don’t have enough jobs.” He said the city council’s focus right now is keeping their residents employed in Umatilla.Last summer, Governor Ron DeSantis visited Umatilla to award the city with a $4.8 million grant to put toward industrial development.“We’re protecting the rural lifestyle by not overdeveloping, but just the same we’re creating jobs, creating economic development opportunities for our residents,” Mercer said.
Continued residential and business growth is impacting North Lake County, but one community leader said its the intention of city leadership to maintain a rural lifestyle.
Umatilla’s new city manager, Aaron Mercer, spoke with WESH 2 ahead of a vote to waive all future annexation fees for properties seeking to join the city, whether residential, commercial or industrial.
“Anybody that wants to be part of the city, we don’t need to charge them thousands of dollars to do so. We welcome them,” Mercer said. “Once they pay their taxes in a few years, we recoup those fees. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Mercer has only held the position of city manager for two days, after prior city manager Scott Blankenship stepped down from his role last week.
Mercer, who’s held a leadership position with Umatilla for years, said a leadership transition has been in the works for some time.
He said, ultimately, his goal and that of city council and the mayor is for Umatilla to maintain its rural character despite all the explosive growth happening just south of it in Eustis and Mount Dora.
“There’s nothing really north of town. We don’t have any sewer north of town. Without sewer, you would look at large lot subdivisions, quarter acre, half acre, third acre lots,” Mercer said, adding that the minimum lot size in Umatilla is 14,000 sq. ft. compared with smaller lot sizes allowed in other municipalities.
“We love our rural lifestyle here and we have made it a point to keep our rural lifestyle.”
He said annexation fees have been waived for commercial properties in the past, and the purpose of doing so now for all properties is to make it easier for landowners to join city services.
Meanwhile, two new subdivisions going in on the southern end of the city promise to add more than 600 homes.
“That is a 33 percent increase in our population, just those two projects alone,” Mercer said. “We have enough housing. We don’t have enough jobs.”
He said the city council’s focus right now is keeping their residents employed in Umatilla.
Last summer, Governor Ron DeSantis visited Umatilla to award the city with a $4.8 million grant to put toward industrial development.
“We’re protecting the rural lifestyle by not overdeveloping, but just the same we’re creating jobs, creating economic development opportunities for our residents,” Mercer said.