'Come visit the neighborhood': Rural residents south of Mulberry fed up with industry

Pastor Eugene Kendrick and his neighbors in the Rolling Hills area south of Mulberry have had enough of all the industry moving into their rural, working-class area.

The Jamison North industrial and business park project is the latest, and this time it's directly across from Kendrick’s house along Old Highway 37. It is proposed for 49.8 acres on a portion of the former Peebledale phosphate mine. The land has been reclaimed and is currently owned by Mims Hammocks LLC.

“We just don’t need that here,” Kendrick said by phone.

He and his neighbors in nearby Bradley had gone to the Aug. 2 meeting of the Polk County Planning Commission to fight the project, but the commissioners voted 5-1 to approve the comprehensive plan amendment for industrial and business park land uses.

Kendrick, 72, said there are already two companies using trucks that are tearing up Jamison Road, and those trucks are constantly spilling some of their loads along the dirty stretch of highway.

“We don’t need additional traffic coming through here like that,” Kendrick said.

He cited a laundry list of quality-of-life issues impacting the Rolling Hills neighborhood, including a CSX railroad crossing in disrepair in nearby Bradley.

He also fears other anticipated activities associated with a nearby TECO solar power farm and a proposed green hydrogen plant. The TECO solar plant borders the Rolling Hills subdivision to the southeast.

In June, plans were announced for a South Korean company to build a clean-hydrogen facility south of Mulberry. Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed a memorandum of understanding with LowCarbon Hydrogen Corp. during a trip to South Korea to create a 10-acre research hub for clean hydrogen technology in Mulberry.

Land for the hydrogen plant project was shown as an industrial property to the north of the residential Rolling Hills subdivision on maps displayed at the planning commission meeting.

Kendrick was disappointed that DeSantis never met with the community about the hydrogen plant and found out about the plant from a news media report.

With all those projects in the background, he and his neighbors showed up to the Aug. 2 Planning Commission meeting to ask them to vote against changing the land to industrial. Among other residents who were opposed was Brenda Nichols, who has been calling for more than two years about the poor condition of the railroad crossing in Bradley.

“It’s just like they don’t care about our side of the town,” Nichols said. “That railroad crossing is going to cause a bad accident, and I guess then that’s when they will do something about it.... We’re not treated right. Were not. It’s just really sad because we pay a lot of taxes on my property.”

In addition to speaking in opposition before the planning commission, Kendrick also wants to meet with county commissioners.

“One thing they have to understand is they don’t just throw things on people that pay the taxes and expect them to swallow it,” Kendrick said. “If you’re gonna do something that affects the neighborhood, come visit the neighborhood. You haven’t even been out here. You don’t even know what the area looks like.”

The Jamison North project is south of Mulberry city limits and located south of State Road 60, west of Old Highway 37, north of Jamison Road and east of State Road 37, a county land development staff report said.

According to the staff report recommending the applicant’s zoning change, an industrial purpose for the land would be consistent and compatible with surrounding land uses and the infrastructure.

'Unlivable' Amid Florida heat, advocates decry lack of air conditioning in state prisons

The applicant is Mims Hammocks LLC. The managing member of that corporation is T. Mims Corp. with an address in Lakeland, and that entity is managed by William T. Mims, state records show.

The applicant would require a comprehensive plan amendment. It is not clear what businesses would be utilizing the property because a representative for the industrial business park has not yet submitted a site plan nor any other details. Dave Carter of Carter-Kaye Engineering is the project manager listed in county documents.

The property is in the Southwest Regional Polk County Utilities service area for water and wastewater would be handled by a septic system.

“The proposed request is not anticipated to have a negative impact upon the environmental features present on the subject site,” the report said.

First responders would come from Polk County Fire Rescue Station 4 at 6949 Old Highway 37 in Bradley Junction, which is about 2.5 miles away and an estimated 6-minute response. The site is within the Southwest District Command Area for the Sheriff’s Office at 4120 U.S. 98 South in Lakeland.

Further, the industrial portion of the site is to be placed behind the business park section of the property along Old Highway 37 so that heavier activity would not be visible from the road, according to county planner Johnathan Sims. There is also dense vegetation that has grown along Old Highway 37 that will be used as a buffer.

Since, the former phosphate mine has been reclaimed, the land is ready for other uses, Sims said. He also said Jamison Road has recently been reclassified to a designation that allows for a project such as the proposed Jamison North. And, the business park designation would be the lowest density possible for that activity.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Rolling Hills residents oppose industrial zone in their neighborhood