![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/40d6524b-e2e6-4c59-b173-487b547f7dd9-Creek_Ranch_Development_Site_plan_5-25-23.webp?resize=660%2C427&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAt today\u2019s Board meeting, the residents who requested the De Novo hearing expressed concern for the area\u2019s wildlife corridor, as well as stormwater and traffic issues. They also said that the development would not be compatible with the surrounding area, and they discussed potential school overcrowding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polk County\u2019s public school concurrence plan indicates that the schools will be able to handle the expected growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The developer, Center State Development, said that more than 50% of Creek Ranch will be preserved as wetlands and open space and that the development will include a 1.25-mile wildlife corridor, which will be protected by a permanent easement. The plans also call for retention ponds and a portion of Marigold Avenue to be widened to four lanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioner Martha Santiago emphasized that construction will not begin until every aspect of the plans are in place, including utilities and road improvements. \u201cYou cannot ignore the development that is taking place in Poinciana,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cAll throughout Poinciana, we have development. So, I can\u2019t say that this is not compatible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis development, the way it\u2019s laid out, how it\u2019s designed, this is what Polk County has been trying to get to for years,\u201d said Commissioner Rick Wilson. \u201cThis is one of the most compatible things I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe wildlife corridor is an important asset to our state,\u201d Commissioner Bill Braswell said. \u201cJust the fact that you\u2019re locking it in, preserving it \u2026 I think it\u2019s a good idea. We will know forever that this wildlife corridor exists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioner George Lindsey recused himself due to a business relationship. Commissioner Neil Combee cast the lone dissenting vote. He said, \u201cI don\u2019t think this is compatible. The road system out there is terribly inadequate. It\u2019s a nightmare waiting to happen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By a vote of 3-1, the Polk County Board of County Commissioners approved plans today for the construction of 1,876 single-family homes, as well as commercial property, in Poinciana. Residents… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[6010],"class_list":["post-35936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-polk-county-board-approves-creek-ranch-plans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}