First Baptist Church of Clermont wants to sell land, have it developed as assisted living

CLERMONT — First Baptist Church of Clermont is requesting a change to the city’s comprehensive land-use plan and zoning so it can sell some of its land for an assisted living facility.

The church, at 2751 Hartwood Marsh Road, plans to sell about 8.5 acres on the southeast corner of Hartwood and Hancock Road.

It won’t be operated by First Baptist, but it will be “a ministry of the church,” said Bill Lawson, president of the board of trustees. The prospective owner is the Lawson Architectural Group (no relation.) Investors will probably create a limited corporation, he said.

The request is for rezoning the property from single-family medium-density residential to planned unit development, and it will make a small-scale comprehensive land-use change. It is scheduled to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission on May 7 and the City Council on May 28.

The church, which owns about 38 acres, has sold three acres to the city for a fire station and another three acres for a retention pond for the state and county widening of Hartwood Road to four lanes.

Plans call for a mostly one-story facility, though some portions will be as high as three stories. There will be 53 independent living suites, 88 assisted living spaces and 36 memory care units, according to John Kruse, Clermont’s planning manager.

The church attempted a similar move a few years ago but pulled it before it got to the Planning and Zoning Commission when a nearby homeowner association objected, saying it would add to the busy traffic. Some even claimed it would devalue property rates.

The city manager had taken another job and there was a new mayor. “We’re a ministry, we don’t want to fight,” Lawson said.

“Traffic is always terrible there,” Lawson conceded. A lot of Disney World employees use it for their daily commute.

But Lawson points out that the facility will generate little traffic, since many of the residents don’t drive, and that it will be a well designed facility. “It’s not going to be a gas station or a thrift store,” he said. It will add to property values, he said, and it will not back up and be close to any homes.

First Baptist bought the property from Lincoln Groves Inc. in 2001, according to county property appraiser records. The church, which is 130 years old, relocated from downtown. About 450 people attend church on Sundays, said Karen Dailey, operations manager for the church.

The sale of the property will pay off the mortgage of the church, Lawson said.

Lawson is not a newcomer to Clermont. He said he moved to the city in 1971 and there were two churches, a Publix and 3,200 residents.

Disney World, which opened in 1971, and devastating freezes that destroyed citrus groves in the early 1980s changed the landscape forever.

The creation of Clermont’s Wellness Way alone, a 16,000-acre plot between Interstate 4, Florida’s Turnpike, and U.S. 27, is creating 19,000 rooftops, Lawson said. The estimated population of the city is almost 50,000.

But the city has done a good job of handling growth, Lawson said, with bike paths, parks and other facilities.

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As for assisted living facilities, they are filling a great need for the aging population, he said.

The assisted living facility itself will be faith-based. “These are the ones that provide the best care,” he said. “It’s going to be a great facility.”

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Church hopes assisted living facility can be built after it sells land