A near four-hour meeting regarding the proposed development for the largest community in Plant City opened the door to far too many questions, leading to a delayed vote on approving the plans.
The Plant City Planning Board postponed its vote of a developer’s proposal to add new residential communities within Walden Lake during a presentation on Feb. 9. The highly contentious development plan has been years in the making and tensions rose as the developer, Walden Lake LLC, and current Walden Lake residents both spoke before the board.
The meeting was held in the Trinkle Center at the Hillsborough Community College and residents took to the mic to express what they believe are serious concerns for Walden Lake. The developer shared plans to revitalize the long-defunct property with the planning board.
Despite nearly three years of strategizing and planning for the development — as well as countless hours of community outreach — the planning board was left with doubts on the proposal and hesitancy on the impact it would have on current residents.
Walden Lake LLC and its team said they are here for a “long-term commitment to write a new chapter for Walden Lake.” They said the community’s future has been uncertain for years and has gone through a series of unreliable ownership. The goal with the new proposed development is to “return it to its original vision” of a mixed-use community for everyone.
The Vision
The 319-acre development would be comprised of 200 acres set aside for open green space, as well as a Village Center and 10 new neighborhoods. The Village Center would be both commercial developments and residences sitting on 58 acres of land. The commercial and retail area will span 20,000 square feet. As to provide neighborhood services as opposed to city-round services, the developer would only incorporate small offices, low-intensity retail and limited-seating restaurants.
The residential area of the Village Center would consist of 157 villas, 70 townhomes, and 260 luxury apartments.
On Jan. 4, 2021, the planning board determined that the proposed residential development density and commercial retail in the Village Center met the city’s Future Land Use standards.
Resident’s Woes
Walden Lake residents, such as Larry Eben, only see a disadvantage with the Village Center.
“The commercial space, as tight as they’re going to make it, will become not safe as far as access for the fire department,” he claimed.
Eben shared his belief that when delivery trucks distribute food to the restaurants in an area with limited space they will have to unload from the side of the street, resulting in a narrower road.
“You’re going to tie up traffic and emergency vehicles if there’s a car parked in that narrow of a street,” he said.
And while he admitted that he’s not necessarily opposed to new development, he believes that the number of proposed residences will leave the Village Center too clustered.
Frances Chandler Marino, the president of the land-planning firm Femme by Design, LLC., shared her view on the project through an analysis report she conducted.
Her analysis shows that neighborhood commercial uses should not be located within residential neighborhoods or encourage the use of local streets for non-residential traffic. Marino also speculates that construction of commercial or industrial parking lots with an entrance or exit from a residential neighborhood “isn’t a proper design.”
“I find that the location of the proposed commercial use is not consistent with the comprehensive plan and is not compatible with the adjacent development,” she stated.
Nicholas Brown, representative of the Save Walden Lake organization, echoed Marino’s conclusions.
“Plans call for a new town center core to be added…one which would be incompatible with our homes, and unfairly compete with long-established businesses and apartments in the existing ring,” Brown said. “Retrofitting a new core to an existing ring just doesn’t make sense. Calling it a town center doesn’t change the fact that it’s still commercial in apartment units.”
The Village Center
The proposed Village Center will be located near the former Walden Lake Clubhouse on Clubhouse Drive.
Outside of the Village Center there will be 10 new neighborhoods consisting of 209 single family detached homes and 59 villas. Four of the 10 neighborhoods, including the Village Center, would be situated along the southern end of the CSX railroad tracks. Each neighborhood will have anywhere from 13 to 66 homes.
New proposed roads would connect with existing roadways, ultimately leading out onto three main corridors – Griffin Boulevard, Timberlane Drive, and Clubhouse Drive.
Modification Requests
Some of the unique modifications requested by the developer include significant alterations to setbacks for the proposed homes. In the Village Center they want to reduce setbacks to 10 feet in the rear and 5 feet on the side for townhomes and villas. For townhomes they want to reduce separation between buildings from 20 feet to 10 feet. They want to reduce multi-family building front yard setbacks from 25 feet to 20 feet and reduce separation between buildings from 40 feet to 20 feet on the side, and 60 feet to 10 feet in the rear. In the Village Center boundary, they want to reduce multi-use building setbacks from 40 feet to 30 feet.
A request for altering driveway spacing for townhomes was also submitted. If approved, it would reduce the spacing between the driveway edge to edge of the property line 5 feet to 1.5 feet. According to the developer, the engineering division reviewed this and had no objections to the request. The proposed neighborhood homes with a buffer of 50 feet or less from existing homes, will be divided by vinyl fences.
Walden Lake LLC fails to sweep Planning Board and residents off their feet
Art Wood, chair of the planning board, has his doubts about the presentation from the developer.
“I have a concern,” Wood said. “You drive all over Walden Lake, you don’t see any vinyl fences dividing… I’m just concerned about the proliferation of white, plastic fences all through our community.”
Others expressed concerns that neighborhood roadways would become congested with vehicles, especially from the Village Center, trying to exit Timberlane Drive, Griffin Boulevard and Clubhouse Drive.
“Imagine backing into an oncoming street with morning rush hour traffic coming from the town center,” Brown said. “What a way to start, or maybe end your day.”
The future of the golf course
More than 200 acres of the land has been set aside as open green space in the proposed plan.
The dormant — and at times overgrown — golf course will not be returning. Developers cited the massive upkeep and management costs tied to golf courses as part of the reasoning for not returning a course to the site. They argue that new, more accessible recreational opportunities will replace the hobby.
The opportunities include paths and trails, activity pods and exercise areas, playgrounds, dog parks, and stormwater ponds and water features. Elise Batsel, legal representation for the developer, said there is much to gain from the new proposed use for the site.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” she said. “When you have a defunct golf course like we have now, there’s so much opportunity for revitalization of that golf course.”
The legal team also reassured the residents there would be green space left undeveloped.
One region in question is the space situated between the Sutton Woods and Hammocks neighborhoods.
“We just spoke to the client and to show you just how serious we are,” Batsel said. “They are happy to deed that property to the Walden Lake Community Association.”
Of course, many residents are less than thrilled at not having a golf course in the development, despite there not having been a maintained and active course in the community for some years. Brown said he believes modifying the golf course space would pose as a disadvantage to residents.
“In addition to recreation, the golf courses serve as two final functions. Firstly, the fairways provide a green space which defines neighborhoods and provides security and quality of life for residences. Secondly, stormwater drainage from our residences…flow on the golf course to minimize local flooding,” Brown said.
During the permitting process the developer’s civil and stormwater engineer will do an analysis to assure that the project will not have any stormwater impacts both on-site and off-site. This will be done as the proposed property is located near the headwaters of the Spartman Branch basin which ultimately flows water into the Hillsborough River.
Also, during the permitting process, the developer will be consulting with agencies in protecting listed species within wetlands.
The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission is one of the agencies that the developer has already been communicating with.
The long journey to development
Batsel said they took current residents’ opinions for the site into consideration when they created the proposed plan. A survey was sent out (https://www.plantcityobserver.com/preliminary-results-are-in-for-walden-lake-resident-survey/) in 2019 asking residents to rank their preferences for a variety of development options. The plan presented by the developers looked markedly different from the initial proposal back in 2019. After the results of the survey came in, the developer reworked portions of the property to mirror portions of the feedback they received.
The development team has, in the past, created platforms to hear the concerns of the Walden Lake community. The team stated that they:
Were in negotiations with the Walden Lake Community Association (WLCA) for eight months, bringing different options to the table
In 2019, they surveyed residents on preferred amenities and hosted a meeting at the Plant City Church of God
Stayed in communication with residents via Zoom and phone calls as well as emails
Launched the site MovingWaldenLakeForward.com in 2020 to share their vision and create another forum for residents
Presented plans to the Plant City Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee and Investors, and came to a compromise, adding 80-foot single family lots
Seven revisions to the application were made, the development team noted. Batsel, herself, has been at the negotiation table.
“Over three years, there’s been significant communications with the neighbor’s association up until 2019 when they wouldn’t talk to us anymore,” she said. “The project you see today is completely different from the project we had three years ago, and it’s a better project because of all of that input.”
Another incentive that residents will see is an increase in property value, according to Walden Lake LLC.
Going forward
The developers do not need the consent of the residents to go forward but do need to receive a vote from the planning board to enter the next steps and ultimately send the proposed development to commissioners.
However, many residents are not satisfied, either feeling that the changes don’t go far enough, or they simply do not want any changes whatsoever.
“The impact of more people in a smaller area is going to create more crime,” Kenneth Green said.
Other residents voiced concerns about the impact of the development on roadways.
However, in April 2021 a transportation analysis was completed for the modifications proposed to the area. The developer has agreed to pay up to $350,000 toward the traffic light at Griffin Boulevard and Turkey Creek Road.
“We know that change is very hard for a community, and we’ve tried to be very sensitive and provide a development that is thoughtful,” Batsel said.
She also noted that the developer is always open to suggestions from the residents to better the project moving forward.
The planning board did not vote on the proposal, but have set a next meeting for Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Trinkle Center.
