The Walden Lake development began with two privately-owned, thriving golf courses in the midst of 2200 houses. However, the golf courses’ 320 acres became run down, lost business, and eventually, the owner filed for bankruptcy. The course has been closed for 12 years. As the clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, and other structures continued to degrade, several notices of code violations were sent from Plant City government to the property owners including grass, weed, and undergrowth that had grown over 10 inches tall near structures and roadways. Also, the city noted violations that the garbage and tree debris was not being removed.
Various visions for reviving the property have come and gone, such as constructing a mall, building restaurants, or restoring the golf courses. “The Homeowners Association should have bought it when it was in foreclosure,” one longtime resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
In September 2023, Walden Lake LLC, the owner of the land, proposed a new, multifamily development within the Walden Lake community. The developer intends to use as a resource from Florida’s Live Local Act. According to floridahousing.org, “The Live Local Act is a comprehensive, statewide attainable housing strategy, designed to increase the availability of affordable housing opportunities for Florida’s residents who desire to live within the communities they serve. This framework provides historic recurring funding for housing very-low to moderate income households.”
The plan for the property within the 2,800-acre Walden Lake community would include 470 townhouses and 1,530 apartments. The developer believes such a multi-family development falls within the City of Plant City Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.
However, the City of Plant City refused to consider a preliminary plat. The main reason cited was the land marked for construction is not completely within an area zoned for such a development
In response, Walden Lake LLC filed a Complaint for Declaratory Relief against the City of Plant City in response to the City’s refusal. Walden Lake LLC filed the complaint on Nov. 28 in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. The Complaint contends that the City’s interpretation of the Live Local Act “is flawed, emphasizing that it prioritizes procedural formalities over substantive solutions, hindering legislative efforts to alleviate the housing crisis.”
In the meantime, the property is continuing to degrade and become an increasing eyesore. So much so that it has turned home buyers away from Walden Lake.
“We have been very proactively and aggressively working with the owner of that property to meet the standards of code enforcement,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “Based on Florida law, we have to have a complainant on a code enforcement case. We cannot take anonymous code enforcement complaints.”
After complaints from residents and Plant City Code Enforcement action, mowing of areas has commenced. Also, garbage and dumped items have been removed from the property around the tennis courts and pool. However, this is a very large property to keep up with.
“It is frustrating to know we live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in town, but hate having to drive past that every day,” another resident said on the condition of anonymity.