Commission Meeting Agenda Item

The Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe started operations in Lady Lake in 2008 at 106 West Lady Lake Blvd. as a two-story building that served as the first general store of Lady Lake for close to 100 years. The Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe main operations consist of selling donated household items, including home décor, books, clothing, shoes, linens, jewelry, furniture and even collectible items to raise funds for The Villages Regional Hospital.

In the summer of 2015, the Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe took over and retrofitted another almost 100 year old building next door, addressed as 110 West Lady Lake Blvd., to accommodate carrying larger furniture and to have more retail floor space, which increased from 1,400 square feet to over 4,300 square feet. The Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe is now looking to redevelop and expand to properly accommodate its thriving operations at the site.

Both properties are owned by The Villages Tri-county Medical Center, Inc.

BACKGROUND

The Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe is operated by The Villages Regional Hospital Auxiliary Foundation, which is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 with the sole mission of providing support to the programs and services provided by The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH). On its website page, the Auxiliary Foundation states that, to date, the foundation “has raised more than one million dollars that has enabled the hospital to purchase leading-edge equipment”. Further, contributions to the hospital is growing at a 20 percent rate year over year. The thrift shop started with 40 auxiliary volunteers and now has over 200 volunteers working to sort, test, clean, display merchandise, as well as help customers and handle purchases. The generous support of the local community donating gently used items, while at the same time shopping at the store, has been a major contributor to the Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe success.

PROPOSAL

With an average of $3,000.00 per month of sales taxes paid last fiscal year, management has identified the opportunity to redevelop, expand, and plant long lasting roots in the Lady Lake community.

At this time, the applicant is proposing to demolish the two-story building and then erect a 6,015-square-foot building that will be connected to an existing 3,510-square foot corner building at 110 West Lady Lake Blvd. The proposal would increase the total retail gross lease area to 9,525 square feet. The applicant proposes to provide a total of 47 parking spaces, including four Florida ADA accessible parking spaces, and the redevelopment will encompass four parcels totaling approximately 1.13 acres.

With the proposal, the applicant would like to discuss certain waivers and variances that will be needed:

1. Reduction of the required front-yard setback. The requirement for the front yard setback is 10 feet. Right now, the existing two-story building is encroaching approximately five feet into West Lady Lake Blvd. The Lake County Property Appraiser shows that this building was constructed in 1926. The applicant is proposing to re-develop the new expansion at lot line, thus requesting entire reduction of the front yard setback requirement.
2. Reduction of the Depth of Parking Spaces — A standard parking space is 10 feet by 20 feet. The applicant is proposing 10 feet by 18.7 feet parking spaces.
3. Removal of two historic trees (56 and 60 tree caliper inches in diameter respectively). Due to the fact that these trees have been determined to be healthy trees and are over 200 years of age as stated by an ISA Certified Arborist, Town staff would recommend that the applicant/developer explores all venues to try to preserve these trees before and after construction due to their great historical value and environmental contribution added to the Lady Lake downtown area, including potentially redesigning site around them or even relocating, reducing, or eliminating some parking spaces.

The following items are included in the packet:

1. Key Milestones and Growth Letter by the Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe Management
2. Arborist Report by Stanage Tree Service
3. Site Plan Conceptual Layout and Architectural Elevations by Forefront Architecture Engineering
4. Civil Site Plan proposal by Riddle Newman Engineering
5. Aerial Site Proposal by provide by GM Director Thad Carroll