Lakeland officials approve redevelopment of Wedgewood Golf Course

LAKELAND - A proposal to redevelop the historic Wedgewood Golf Course were reviewed in a four-hour debate that churned out a revised plan to build 954 homes.

Lakeland commissioners voted 4-3 Monday to approve changes to the city's future land use plan to rezone approximately 19 acres of the former golf course from Residential Medium to Residential Low, and roughly 59 acres from Residential Medium to Residential High. This will allow Mulberry-Based SJD Development to create what will be called Gibson Trails.

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SJD Development was represented by former Polk County Commissioner John Hall and his son Jonathan Hall.

"This is not the biggest development we've considered in all my time spent on the commission, I would attest this is the most complex involving multiple facets," Commissioner Bill Read said.

SJD Development has subdivided the 127-acre golf course into 11 sections for redevelopment. Phase one of the plans call for 46 single-family homes to the southwest of Carpenter's Road and 370 multifamily apartments northeast of the road.

The second phase of construction calls for 14 single-family homes adjacent to Heatherpoint Drive. To the south of it, closest to the carpenter's cemetery, the developer plans to build five, three-story multifamily apartment buildings. On the far west side of the golf course there would be single-family attached townhouses built by The Loop at Wedgewood.

The third and most controversial segment is a series of multifamily apartments on 59 acres starting between Audubon Oaks and Fairfield on the Tee in a line going south with taller four-story apartment buildings in the southeast corner by Lakeland Park Drive and I-4.

"We have 59 acres to be crammed with buildings and asphalts," Gina Ward, a 20-year homeowner of Wedgewood Estates, said. "That, to me, isn't compatible."

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Commissioners Chad McLeod, Sara Roberts McCarley and Samuel Simmons voted against the city's future land use designation.

"It's hard in this seat to prescribe to a developer what they need to do to make a project work," McLeod said. "It's the intensity and number of multifamily homes is the reason for my no vote."

Read, despite voting in the majority, asked the developers for concessions on the high density given citizens' concerns about the traffic impacts on Carpenter's Way.

Mayor Bill Mutz followed up by asking if the developer would consider reducing the height of three proposed buildings near Fairfield from four to three stories. Bart Allen, an attorney representing SJD Development, said it would have been a reduction of 30 apartment units, averaging about 10 per floor.

Allen, however, said the developer was willing to eliminate two of the two-story apartment buildings slated to stand between Sandwedge Villas and Audubon Oaks from its plans. This removed 40 multifamily apartments, or two buildings, from the proposed development.

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Ward and David DeMarcay, owner of Aududon Oaks, said the elimination of the two, two-story buildings situated between the existing developments was preferred option versus reducing the height of some of the four-story buildings. The change would provide more green space near Audubon Oak's existing pool and amenity area.

With these changes, the commission voted 6-1 to approve changes to the Planned Unit Development allowing the land to become a housing development instead of a golf course. McLeod said it made no sense to vote it down, once the property was designated to become housing.

Allen said the developers were agreeable to the scaled-back changes after Read asked if they "were happy."

Ward, a resident who has been outspoken against the development, said she wasn't happy with the outcome.

"I think we as a community need to go back to [the developers] and just say we want to clarify what it is that would best fit in here and ask if they can make it work and still make a profit," she said. "To build a cohesive community inside our community so we can all get along forever."

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Mutz called Johnathon Hall to step forward, getting him to assure that he would continue to meet with and work with local residents as the project moves forward.

Chuck Barmby, Lakeland's planning and transportation manager said the development will generate approximately $2 million in transportation impact fees for the city in addition to the developer offering to set aside land necessary to extend Lakeland Park Drive.

"The development gives you something to invest in our roads and mitigates traffic," he said.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland officials approve redevelopment of Wedgewood Golf Course