Members of a retirement community in Ocala are perturbed by the city's plans to build a new community directly adjacent to their current homes.
The plan's origins date back to the mid 1980's, when the initial phase of the Falls of Ocala was completed. The plan called for new housing opportunities for those aged 55 and older in a new, man-made community situated close to the intersection of State Road 40 and Southwest 80th Avenue.
At first, the plans called for the creation of 89 new lots in phase one, which would be immediately followed by a phase two directly adjacent to the new community created by the first phase. But following the completion of the first phase, the second phase never got off the ground. As a result, residents of the first phase's new community became accustomed to life without an additional community next door.
But now that the plans are being revitalized, and locals are beginning to realize the possibility of a new development right next door, they aren't happy. Members of the retirement community constructed in phase one say that they don't want a new community "of teenagers coming down the street and their bicycles coming," to be connected to their quiet retirement community, with one stating that Southwest Sixth Place is a "busy little street as it is."
