Against an uproar from residents, Polk commissioners OK 1,876-home Creek Ranch development

Following more than a year of public opposition, the Polk County Commission approved a land-use change for a subdivision of 1,876 single family homes on part of the Creek Ranch along Lake Hatchineha Road in the county’s fastest growing northeast region.

The 3-1 vote, with board Chairman George Lindsey recusing himself, contained only one no vote, cast by Commissioner Neil Combee. The affirmative vote allows for a change to current land use, which had only permitted one housing unit per five acres.

In addition to the homes, the rural mixed-use development includes 12.31 acres for retail, office, personal services or a community facility. It had been approved by the Polk County Planning Commission by a one-vote margin.

The County Commission approval Tuesday during a hearing in Bartow decided an appeal filed by Lake Hatchineha area residents who had opposed the Planning Commission decision.

The development on more than 1,269 acres would set aside 586.5 acres for conservation near other federal and state-managed environmentally sensitive land adjacent to the headwaters of the Everglades.

The commercial corner of the project would sit on the north side of Lake Hatchineha Road between Marigold Avenue and Firetower Road. The Creek Ranch development would have three or four vehicle entrances onto Lake Hatchineha Road.

Land planners for Polk County explained prior to the vote that the proposed subdivision is bordered to the north by Poinciana Neighborhood 2 Village 8, which has 1,589 lots and is 69% built out with homes. A TOHO wastewater treatment plant operates to the northeast of that village.

The western border of the former Creek Ranch property contains the 567-unit Lake Deer subdivision with homes currently under construction. There is also a regional park at Lake Hatchineha Road and Marigold Avenue, as well as a nearby Polk County Fire Rescue station and plans for a Sheriff’s Office facility, both on Marigold.

Schools are an issue

The schools for the proposed neighborhood are Sandhill Elementary School, Lake Marion Middle School and Haines City High School. A high school was initially proposed for the Creek Ranch development, but those plans have not materialized nor have they been discussed for more than a year at public meetings of the Polk County School Board.

To the east, the Port Hatchineha is home to 279 residences along the lake's edge.

The next step for the Creek Ranch development will be a Level 2 site plan approval that will eventually be heard by the Planning Commission, when firmer data about schools, water, sewer and road capacities will have to be submitted.

Many Port Hatchineha residents and environmental land activists have opposed the project, saying the infrastructure is either missing or inadequate to handle thousands more homes.

Food shopping is also missing from the vicinity. County Planner Erik Peterson said the staff has asked the developer to preserve as many acres as possible for potential commercial sites because the closest grocery store, a Winn-Dixie in Dundee, is more than 10 miles away from the proposed subdivision. There is a Publix Super Market on U.S. 17-92 in Haines City, another on Cypress Parkway Kissimmee and Winn-Dixie in Dundee, but each is at least 20 minutes away.

Peterson said road improvements, including some four-lane expansions, are being studied as part of a 10-year plan for the road network within the region.

Among the roadways slated for improvements are Marigold Avenue, which has portions to be four-laned within the next three years; Lake Hatchineha Road, which is being studied for improvements; and a Power Line Road extension is in the planning phases, he said. Portions of Cypress Parkway are expected to be four-laned within the next three years and traffic-flow improvements are anticipated to Lake Marion Road.

'Port Hatchineha residents are absolutely right'

Still, numerous area residents and local environmental activists opposed the project, saying it is incompatible with surrounding environmental preservation areas. They raised questions about the reliability of water and sewer service and pointed out the inadequate road network for handling thousands of new vehicles.

Residents showed pictures of pipes from pumps sticking out of manholes to demonstrate inadequate wastewater systems, including one within 15 feet of Lake Marion Creek Middle School on Pacific Road.

The commission meeting was full of Port Hatchineha area residents who had come to testify at the hearing with new evidence they have uncovered, such as state statute language, recent photographs documenting sewer failures and traffic studies, to try and sway the commission.

Pam Luce, an education director for Citizens Defending Freedom and a former school district facilities staff member and whistleblower, told the commissioners she had public information that shows the district is manipulating the number of seats available at schools to determine concurrency calculations that favor additional housing developments.

“I want to tell you that the Port Hatchineha folks are absolutely right, not only about the road and sewer problems for this development, but also about school capacity in the Northeast," she said Tuesday from the dais.

Luce said she had recently requested school concurrency-determination letters in public information requests from Davenport, Haines City and Polk County and waved them in her hand during her comments at the meeting, saying there is not enough capacity for more students for a development like Creek Ranch.

“I have all the evidence here that anyone needs to prove that without a doubt, the School Board is manipulating and omitting data to allow developers to get through the concurrency process as far as school capacity is concerned.”

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Echoing her claims in a blog post, Tom Palmer, chairman of the Winter Haven-based Ancient Islands Group of the Sierra Club, wrote, “In addition, a former Polk County School Board administrator presented documents that showed school officials have been manipulating school capacity numbers at the behest of development lobbyists and their allies in the school administration to avoid building moratoriums because of inadequate school capacity.”

He added, “But project representatives assured commissioners everything was fine regarding roads and utilities and maintained that the only compatibility that mattered was with adjacent developments, not the environment.”

Reggie Baxter, the land owner and developer, has also applied to the state and to the Polk County Environmental Lands Program to have his property considered for a conservation easement.

A Polk County team is set to visit the site Sept. 29 to evaluate it, Palmer wrote. "The technical team’s report will be forwarded to the Conservation Lands Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the County Commission. "

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Creek Ranch development, with 1,876 homes on Hatchineha Road, approved