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CLERMONT, FL-In a move that few in the public hearing room expected, Lowe's Inc. and a landowner withdrew their application for the development of a 170,000-sf, $15-million store in Lake County's hottest retail hub, just as elected officials prepared to vote on the project.

Lowe's officials and their developer, Clermont Land Development LLC of Solon, OH couldn't be reached by GlobeSt.com's to learn if the Wilkesboro, NC home improvements retailer would resubmit its application at a later date. Sources familiar with Lowe's 31-acre site, southeast of US 27 and State Road 50, tell GlobeSt.com Lowe's is preparing to resubmit the application. Wal-Mart formerly owned the tract but sold it two years ago to the McGill Property Group, the parent of Clermont Land Development, according to GlobeSt.com research.

If Lowe's does resubmit the application, however, sources close to the city's planning department tell GlobeSt.com Lowe's will have to overcome a major hurdle--Clermont bars big-box developments more than 100,000 sf. However, the same sources tell GlobeSt.com the city has waived its own two-year regulation in the past for Home Depot Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Inc.