Clermont planning commissioners push to restart comprehensive‑plan work and raise concerns about growth, traffic and preservation

Several Planning and Zoning commissioners pressed the City of Clermont on June 3 to accelerate and clarify work on the city’s comprehensive plan and to address growth‑related issues including traffic safety, open space and historic preservation.

Commissioner May told the board she spoke as a resident at the City Council’s May 27 meeting to urge an updated comprehensive plan and said council had signaled interest in a downtown overlay and a renewed planning process. “I did do a presentation or spoke on the need of an updated comprehensive plan,” May said, noting the council expects additional workshops.

City staff and multiple commissioners urged residents to watch or participate in Lake County’s growth‑management workshops. Commission members said county materials and a public survey are available online and that Lakefront TV streams and archives the sessions.

Commissioner Tadona raised specific policy and safety concerns tied to growth. He cited the city’s comprehensive‑plan standard that “10 acres of open space… should be set aside for every 1,000 residents,” and noted a city population of about 52,145 in early 2025, which he calculated would imply roughly 521.45 acres of designated open space. Tadona asked whether the city tracks where that land is held and how developers are held accountable for providing open space when projects increase population.

Tadona also described traffic and safety risks near new development on Panic Ridge Road (near the Sprouts grocery) and asked for more attention to sight‑distance, speed and intersection design. He said he had found Florida Department of Transportation training materials useful for line‑of‑sight and traffic‑forecasting guidance and urged the city to consider those resources. Tadona recommended, “I think a 12 month moratorium on all new developments would be would give us time to have our infrastructure catch up to our traffic,” to let staff work on the comp‑plan update and mobility‑fee or traffic mitigation options.

Commissioners also discussed a Dalton Studios historic‑property survey completed in July 2024. The survey found that only two downtown buildings appear on the National Register, and recommended creating a historic‑preservation board, a downtown identity and heritage‑tourism initiatives. Tadona said he had reached out to local organizations to pursue the recommendations.

Other items discussed: Osceola County’s recent adoption of a mobility fee was cited as an example that could inform Clermont’s approach to developer contributions for transportation. Commissioners referenced Lake County crash data distributed during the meeting: in 2024 Lake County recorded 50 traffic fatalities, more than 5,000 crashes and about 4,500 injuries; commissioners said 2025 figures are on track to be higher.

City Attorney Waugh briefed the commission on procedural work staff is preparing; he said, “I prepared a set of rules and policies that would enable you, if you so choose, to do site visits and to have certain discussions,” and that the draft would be presented at the commission’s July meeting. Commissioners expressed interest in joint workshops with City Council to clarify the commission’s advisory role and whether the city should pursue items such as time‑limited or applicant‑specific conditional‑use permits as regulatory tools.

Ending: Commissioners recommended re‑engaging the comprehensive‑plan process, encouraged public participation in county and city planning workshops, and requested staff present draft procedures for site visits and meeting flow at the next commission meeting.