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(19) stories found containing 'south 11th street'


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  • More Than 15,660 New Homes Approved By Lake Wales City Commissioners, Expected to Host 42,000 New Residents

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Mar 22, 2024
    2

    A population boom is expected in Lake Wales in coming months and years as design work or construction is advancing for at least 40 projects within the city limits, in addition to others outside the city. A LakeWalesNews.net calculation shows a total of more than 15,660 new residential units have already met some level of approval by the city commission, with many having already received final plat approval for construction, even as other projects are nearing completion. If the...

  • Hamlin Street Closed for Day January 9 as Huge Hunt Club Project Underway

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 13, 2024

    UPDATE: Per Polk County officials, "utility construction scheduled to close Hamlin Street in Lake Wales this week has been postponed until Tuesday morning January 9. Work should be finished, and roadway reopened to traffic by noon Wednesday, January 10. Closure is needed to open-cut both travel lanes on Hamlin Street just north of Grove Avenue to install a potable water line." Initial construction of streets and utilities to serve the 600-unit Hunt Club development will...

  • ADS Confirms Plans to Construct New Manufacturing Plant in Lake Wales

    News Staff Reports|Updated Nov 15, 2023

    Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. has officially confirmed that it will build a new, state-of-the-art pipe manufacturing facility in Lake Wales. The company plans to break ground in 2024 on a 100-acre site with frontage on both South 11th Street and Hunt Brothers Road. The plant will manufacture corrugated plastic pipe, adding to the company's existing manufacturing presence in Florida. "This advanced manufacturing facility is an important investment in a key region for ADS,"...

  • Large Lake Wales Development Rejected for Failure to Meet City Aspirations

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jun 29, 2023
    1

    Two large residential developments proposed by the same developer recently met with very different responses from the Lake Wales city commission. After unanimously approving a 930-lot single-family subdivision known as the Grove at Orchard Hills, the commission's 3-2 vote rejected a neighboring 300-unit project brought by the same developer. David Waronker of Celebration has been the developer of record for several large subdivision projects in Lake Wales, including the expans...

  • Traditional Neighborhood Design to Elevate New Lake Wales Development

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jun 23, 2023

    The first new development to adopt the "Traditional Neighborhood Design" principles adopted by the Lake Wales City Commission has been approved. The concept lies at the heart of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan currently under development by planning consultants. The adopted plan for the 18.66-acre site includes the mixed residential types, rear parking, sidewalks leading to nearby commercial services, a "green street," and other features advocated in the city's adopted set of...

  • "Town Hall" Meeting on ADS Plant to Be Run By City

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated May 2, 2023

    APRIL 25 - A public "town hall" meeting about the proposed ADS plastic pipe plant scheduled for Wednesday evening will be chaired by Lake Wales Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson, it was announced this week. The meeting will offer residents an opportunity to ask questions about the operations and impact of the facility. "They asked the city to be in charge of things," Gibson told LakeWalesNews.net, and specifically suggested that Gibson should chair it. "I told them 'If you want that,...

  • ADS to Host Public Meeting Over Pipe Plant Concerns

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 25, 2023

    A public meeting seeking to respond to public concerns over a proposed plastic pipe manufacturing facility will take place on Wednesday, April 26 at the Lake Wales Arts Center. The meeting will be hosted by Advanced Drainage Systems, or ADS, the company seeking to build on a 97-acre site fronting South 11th Street and Hunt Brothers Road. The meeting will begin at 6:00 pm. Some residents have voiced opposition to the "heavy" industrial use of the property, although it has been...

  • City Commission Approves Correction of Impactful "Scriveners Error"

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 21, 2023

    An overflow crowd was present Tuesday night as Lake Wales City Commissioners approved correction of a "scrivener's error" that many had interpreted as a step toward the approval of a controversial pipe factory proposal. The change will allow a staff decision on a zoning change from "Light Industrial" to "Heavy Industrial" without the necessity of a commission-conducted public hearing process and site review. That process would allow commissioners to place special conditions...

  • Zoning Board Rejects Change to Ordinance That Would Permit Expedited Approval of Plastic Plant

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Apr 2, 2023
    1

    In a surprise move, the Lake Wales Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 Tuesday evening to reject the "correction of a scrivener's error" that would eliminate a step in future zoning decisions. The decision has immediate impact in the impending decision regarding a proposed plastics manufacturing plant. Dozens of residents filled the chambers as the board, unused to crowds, opened the meeting. Chairman Chris Lutton told the group that the controversial plant was not on the...

  • Proposed Plastic Plant Meets Another Roadblock After Hearing Cancelled

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Feb 15, 2023

    Final approval of a manufacturing plant proposed for a 96-acre "light industrial" site adjacent to Hunt Bros. Road and South 11th Street has been delayed for at least another month by what Lake Wales City Attorney Chuck Galloway described as a "scrivener's error" in an updated ordinance adopted by the city commission in October. The proposed Advanced Drainage Systems plant would manufacture plastic drainage pipes and requires a "special exception" to allow for the storage of...

  • Major Manufacturing Plant Proposed for Hunt Bros. Road

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Feb 9, 2023
    1

    Advanced Drainage Systems has proposed the plant, which would be located on property adjacent to the former Hunt Brothers citrus packing plant. It would occupy a nearly 100-acre site just to the east of South 11th Street and north of Hunt Brothers Road. According to published reports, Advanced Drainage Systems is the largest maker of high-density polyethylene pipe in the United States, and is headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio. The most recent available data indicates that in 201...

  • Developer to Build Two New Roads to Serve Hunt Club Projects

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Dec 26, 2022

    An extension of Hamlin Street will be constructed by Hunt Club manager and developer David A. Waronker under an agreement that will see up to $1,597,793.45 credited against the "Multi-Modal Transportation Impact Fees" assessed by the city. Under an agreement approved recently by the Lake Wales City Commission, the street will include underground storm drains, curbs, sidewalks, and street lighting. The city's development codes also call for the planting of street trees in...

  • City Commission Approves Commercial Use for South 11th Street

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jul 7, 2022

    A "Neighborhood Activity Center" along South 11th Street at Hunt Brothers Road moved a major step toward reality this week as the Lake Wales City Commission unanimously approved changing land use on the 13.66 acre parcel at the northwest corner of the intersection. The property now has a zoning designation of C-4. . The property, owned by the McKenna family, has long been in citrus, as has more than a thousand acres of surrounding lands now slated for future housing...

  • Lake Wales Proposed Development Total Passes 12,000 Unit Mark

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jun 16, 2022
    4

    The parade of development proposals that have stirred citizen concerns of runaway changes to Lake Wales continued to be evident at the most recent city commission meeting as details emerged for several more projects. A calculation by LakeWalesNews.Net staff has indicated that more than 12,000 new single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, and mobile homes are included in developments already on the drawing table. At least three other projects have been proposed but remain to...

  • Neighborhood Shopping Center Proposed for Hunt Bros. Road

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated May 14, 2022
    2

    The Lake Wales City Commission will vote Tuesday on a proposal that will allow construction of a new "neighborhood" shopping center at the currently-remote corner of Hunt Brothers Road and South 11th Street. The conceptual development plan for the 13.66 acre site on the northwest corner of the intersection will be considered by the commission at Tuesday's 6:00 pm meeting. The proposal is being submitted by the McKenna Family, owners of the two parcels, and represents the new...

  • Commission Workshop Hears Multiple Housing Development Project Proposals

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Mar 19, 2022

    Several new large-scale residential developments took shape in presentations heard by the Lake Wales City Commission during their Wednesday workshop, at which only three commissioners were present. The poor attendance at two meetings this week prompted complaints from Mayor Eugene Fultz. The rapid growth of Lake Wales in the face of multiple large-scale development projects has concerned many citizens as judged by questions submitted at recent elections forums. The latest...

  • City To Expand Again With Large Voluntary Annexations

    Robert Connors, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 12, 2022

    The ongoing transition of the Lake Wales area from broad tracts of citrus to new housing projects is taking another leap forward as two prominent citrus families have proposed voluntary annexations totaling some 266 acres. The tracts lie immediately north and south of the present city center. Annexation will make the sites eligible for municipal water and sewer services, allowing development at attractive densities. The largest of the new annexation applications covers about...

  • an aerial view of the development site

    More than 8,000 New Dwellings Planned in Lake Wales

    Robert Connors|Updated Oct 6, 2021

    Plans and proposals for new housing developments in Lake Wales have come in waves during 2021 and show no sign of abating. More than 8,300 new dwellings are now "visible" on the planning documents at the City of Lake Wales Development Services. Those residences are likely to house more than 23,000 new citizens, an expected population increase of some 140%. "Everybody wants to come where we are," said City Commissioner Robin Gibson, when asked about the growth spurt. "It's a...

  • New Owner Wants City to Drop Foreclosure, Waive Fines on Seminole Hotel

    Chevon T. Baccus APR|Updated Sep 17, 2020
    2

    Henry Kebabjian wants to redevelop the historic Seminole Hotel in downtown Lake Wales, but his timing may be a little off. Kebabjian bought the three-story hotel Aug. 19 at a bargain-basement price of $10,500, two months after the city's Code Enforcement Board voted to foreclose on the property. The city in 2017 declared the building unsafe, emptied it of tenants and condemned it for multiple code violations. Recent owner Cardiff Howell of Orlando was unable to submit an...

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