Publix's promise? Residents point to 1973 agreement to leave Lake Miriam buffer

LAKELAND — Lakeland residents believe they were made a promise nearly 50 years ago: Publix Super Markets Inc. agreed to leave the land between its Lake Miriam Square shopping center and the road vacant.

Lakeland developer Gregory Fancelli — a grandson of Publix founder George Jenkins — called on city officials to uphold the original 1973 agreement made between Publix and surrounding residents.

"This undeveloped area was established at 500 feet initially and has been chipped away over the years, first to 75 feet and in this proposal, effectively 15 feet," Fancelli wrote in an email. "For the single-family property owners to the south, this represents the completion of the reversal from a previously promised distance buffer for their neighborhood."

In August 1973, Publix was seeking a change of zoning to build its Lake Miriam Square store off Lake Miriam Drive and South Florida Avenue. At the time, there were only two buildings on the roughly 48-acre parcel. The first was a one-story, concrete cinder block building previously used by the Imperial University Club of Polk County; the other a one-story building occupied by a small business.

The change of zoning request notes the nearest single-family residence to the east was 400 feet away, and the nearest single-family home to the south was 550 feet.

The proposal, signed by former Publix CEO Charles Jenkins Jr., outlined a buffer zone 500 feet deep to the south and the east of the project. This would provide a separation of roughly 550 feet separation to the nearest single-family residence to the south of the proposed shopping center.

Publix's letter outlines how approximately half, or 24 acres out of 48 acres, would be left vacant and undeveloped.

"The applicant believes that the commercial project contemplated has been generously isolated from the single-family residential uses," reads the 1973 document.

By comparison, Preferred Apartment Communities' proposed development would have left about 150 feet between the closest apartment building and single-family home.

Fancelli said the buffer in the original agreement has been modified several times as different companies had interest in building on the site. In 2013, the Tampa-based PDQ had an interested in opening a restaurant. In 2018, the city gave its approval for nearly 40,000 square feet of commercial space for LA Fitness.

"Maybe that's the mistake we made to let it go from 500 feet to 100 feet to 75 feet," Commissioner Stephanie Madden said. "That's why we have additional traffic, and that's why our roads are failing."

Previously: Lakeland commissioners reject plans for 211 apartments at Publix's Lake Miriam Square

Lake Miriam Drive: With or without new apartments, the road is broken. The city has ideas to fix it

Imperial Lakes: Polk commissioners reject zoning changes, killing plan for 800 apartments

Madden and Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said that Lakeland is undergoing fast, intense population growth as people flock to Florida. This places the city in a predicament in that many residents want Lakeland, as they first came to know and love it, to remain unchanged. Smart growth is a necessity, McCarley said.

"We can't keep Lakeland rural and small town forever," Madden said. "We have become attractive; people want to move here."

Mutz, in favor of Preferred Apartment Communities' development, said the site would have provided much needed housing for the city's growing population.

The density of the proposed 211-unit apartment complex at 17.5 units per acre was "somewhat unrealistic," according to Fancelli. He suggested a maximum density of 12 units per acre would be more appropriate given the surrounding area.

Lakeland resident Sue Nelson, a former Polk County planning commissioner, examined the existing neighborhoods off Lake Miriam Drive to determine the density of housing varies from 0.06 to 3.3 units per acre.

"This proposal doesn't even come close," Nelson said. "The numbers don't lie."

The 1973 Publix document shows that as long as there's been development on Lake Miriam Drive, there's been concerns about traffic.

"The major problem relating to the shopping center would be the possibility of traffic congestion at the intersection of Lake Miriam Drive and State Road 37," it reads.

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: Lake Miriam area residents say Publix promised in 1973 to leave buffer