The Lake Dora waterfront will not have 60-foot-tall buildings anytime soon.
Following a public hearing attended by several hundred people Thursday night at the Mount Dora Community Building, city officials have decided that allowing building heights of up to 60 feet at the lakefront wasn’t a good idea. Many residents shunned the idea, and two former council members, Glenna Burch and Tom Eppich, organized efforts to stop any change to the city’s comprehensive land use plan that would have allowed it.
City officials not only decided to deny increased building heights at the lakefront, but also agreed to remove the words “contiguous and abutting” from its land development code. Some residents, and even City Councilman Dennis Wood, questioned the wording because they believed it would have left the door open for a “domino effect,” with landowners wanting big buildings on adjacent properties.
Instead, the city council gave tentative approval of mixed-use districts in the Golden Triangle and Highland Street. The final public hearing on the plan is scheduled for Feb. 19 at City Hall.