Lake Wales City Commission changes land code, paving way for controversial pipe facility

Months of passionate debate ended quietly Tuesday night as the Lake Wales City Commission voted 5-0 without discussion to revise a land-use code, enabling a proposed pipe-manufacturing plant to proceed without a special permit.

Commissioners adopted an amendment to a section of the city’s land-development regulations, completing a process that drew heavy scrutiny because of the implications for the planned Advanced Drainage Systems facility in the south end of Lake Wales.

Many residents of Lake Wales and surrounding communities have raised objections to the project, which would occupy 97 acres of former citrus groves on land owned by Hunt Bros., a prominent agriculture company.

The City Commission had voted to approve the revision, which was recommended by the city’s planning staff, at its previous meeting. The second hearing and binding vote took place Tuesday night.

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Advanced Drainage Systems, an Ohio-based company, seeks to build the plant on a property bordered by 11th Street (County Road 17B), Hunt Brothers Road and the Florida Midland Railroad line. The facility would melt plastic pellets and fashion them into industrial-sized drainage pipes.

Lake Wales has been considering a rewrite of its land-use code since confusion arose over whether the current designation for the site, Industrial-1, would allow the level of industrial activity ADS plans. The parcel has had that designation for more than a decade, having been changed for a previous project that didn’t materialize.

An ADS executive has described the plant as “light industrial,” but plans to store plastic material outdoors would put it in the category of heavy industrial. Under the revision, heavy manufacturing would be permitted by right under the site's designation of Industrial-1.

The change means that the ADS plant will only need approval from the city’s planning staff.

Undoing an error

The city amended an ordinance last year, intending to delete the requirement of a special permit for such activity, but a “scrivener’s error” kept the old rule in place.

That would have required ADS to receive a special-use permit from the Planning and Zoning Board. The planning staff developed the revision to the land-use code, but the Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-2 against recommending the change at its March 28 meeting.

Nonetheless, the City Commission approved the revision after hearing last month at a work session from Tom Cloud, an outside lawyer hired as a consultant. Cloud told commissioners that it was appropriate to revise the land-use code and that the city might even face legal vulnerability if the commission failed to do so.

Lake Wales has also contracted with Merle Bishop, the retired growth management director for Polk County and Winter Haven, to review its land-use codes and provide an expert-witness report.

That was the background Tuesday night as the City Commission held a second reading on the proposed change. Before commissioners voted, they again heard from some residents strongly opposed to the ADS plant, and therefore to the land-use revision.

Charlene Bennett, a regular speaker at commission meetings, suggested that “basic racism” had determined the location of the proposed plant. The site is near two neighborhoods with large minority populations.

“Across the country, we know how much communities of color and people who don't have the wherewithal to fight have long been subjected to industries and toxic sorts of environments, things that surround them that they had no choice (about),” Bennett said.

She later asked, “If this ADS plant were right next to Dinner Lake Shores, where the mayor lives, and those folks were all fighting it, would you say yes to it, then? Vice Mayor (Robin) Gibson and I, we live over there, right around Lake Wailes. If it was going to be next to us over there, would you move forward?”

An ADS executive has said the company chose the property because of its size and proximity to the rail line. The plant will receive the plastic pellets by rail.

Another resident, Cassandra Richards, echoed Bennett’s assertion, saying that “most of these plants that you will find, it’s going to be next to our neighborhoods — or a poor, white neighborhood, people who do not have the means to fight financially.”

Catherine Price, a frequent critic of the City Commission, emphasized her concerns about the city’s permitting process for industrial activity.

“The special exemption permit that y'all are voting on tonight was specifically designed to provide a thoughtful, methodical legal process for making responsible changes to the current zoning situation,” Price said.

The longtime resident said the permitting process would consider compatibility with neighboring properties and such factors as noise, traffic and water supplies.

Promise of 200 jobs

Ruth Search, another resident, expressed concern that the code revision would allow heavy manufacturing to be approved for a parcel zoned for light industrial without any public hearings.

“This is concerning, not only because of this property, but it is also concerning with properties being annexed from the county to the city of Lake Wales,” she said, “because (if) a developer or a purchaser of the land put a plan before the county and was turned down, then they take the plan to the city of Lake Wales and the city says, ‘Come on over.’ ”

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The commission did hear from one proponent of the amendment and the ADS plant, Javier Marin, vice president of business development for the Central Florida Development Council.

Marin offered a series of statistics about employment and economic diversity, stating that manufacturing accounts for only 8% of jobs in Lake Wales. He emphasized that ADS has pledged to invest $250 million and said that the plant would create about 200 jobs. He said those jobs would yield about $15 million in total compensation and the plant would indirectly generate another 111 jobs.

“Our recommendation is that the leadership of the city of Lake Wales invest time and effort into diversifying your employment and your economy,” Marin said.

With the public comments completed, Mayor Jack Hilligoss asked for any discussion of the agenda item among the commission and got no response. Commissioners approved the amendment in quick succession without any further discussion.

The vote marked one of the final official duties for Commissioner Terrye Howell, who did not seek a third term this year in Seat 3. Keith Thompson, who defeated Michelle Threatt in last month’s election, was sworn in during Tuesday’s meeting.

Gibson, who beat challenger Danielle Pride Gibson in the Seat 5 race, was installed for a fourth term.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales Commission revises land code; pipe plant won't need permit