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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cLet me be blunt. It\u2019s foolish to think that you\u2019re not going to have these transient people hanging out in the blocks around it. It\u2019s just nonsense to think that that won\u2019t happen,\u201d said Josh Borem, who lives in Lakeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is only making it better, and I would ask you as board members to not be an obstruction to making an actual improvement because it\u2019s not perfect,\u201d said Michael Porter, a Lakeland resident who is in support of the relocation. \u201cI am here to tell you my unequivocal support for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With help from a private donor, Talbot House Ministries has proposed moving its center, which serves people who are homeless and includes an overnight shelter, from downtown Lakeland to 1115 E. Memorial Blvd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new location is across from Lakes Church, a well-known church in town that also operates a school, Lakes Church Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Talbot House mission is noble and the proposed facility renderings are certainly beautiful. However, the proposed location does not serve to promote overall public health, safety and welfare,\u201d said Lakes Church executive pastor Dwayne McDow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McDow urged decision-makers to prioritize the safety of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The owner of Skate World, which hosts thousands of children a week, is also opposed to the relocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Owner Chanel Bellotto\u2019s grandfather opened Skate World in 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, Skate World underwent a massive renovation, an investment in the future of the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur mission statement is to provide a safe, fun, Christian environment for families and friends to enjoy. I am concerned about the impact of the transient population and how it would impact Skate World,\u201d said Bellotto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to look like all of the vacant lots that are fenced off around the Talbot House now. We want to grow it. We\u2019ve been promised revitalization,\u201d said Traci Hughes, owner of Jimbo\u2019s Pit Bar BQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Kirk, with Straughn Trout Architecture, said he worked on the design with Talbot House Ministries for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The design of the new facility includes housing, a medical clinic, administrative offices and an employment solution center for workforce training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe all are aware of the issue of loitering. It\u2019s really, it\u2019s a nuisance. They have nowhere to go though,\u201d said Kirk during Tuesday\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kirk outlined design decisions aimed at not only benefitting the clients served, but also discouraging loitering by providing greenspace and daytime services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re providing a place where people aren\u2019t going somewhere else and hanging out and doing those things. That was an impact that they recognized and this design with John\u2019s help, they\u2019ve addressed that,\u201d said Tim Campbell, a land use attorney for Talbot House Ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to go forward in the approval process, the planning and zoning board must adopt a \u201cPlanned Unit Development\u201d to \u201callow a transient lodging and social services facility with a health clinic as an accessory use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to bring business into that corridor and I\u2019m concerned that this is going to be detrimental in that attempt,\u201d said Susan Seitz, a planning and zoning board member. \u201cI\u2019m not sure moving the problem from one part of the town to another is actually an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Board member Silvana Knight said Memorial Boulevard is \u201cfar better suited\u201d than downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you can provide a place that is open and welcoming and they can relax and feel dignified in just sitting in that area, I think that\u2019s a win,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
City of Lakeland staff will provide a recommendation for the site, followed by a vote at the planning and zoning\u2019s next meeting in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If approved, it will move to the city commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the city commission approved a strategic plan to revitalize Memorial Boulevard over the next several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editorial comment: Talbot House Ministries was offered property off Combee Road, but turned it down. why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While no vote was cast, Lakeland\u2019s planning and zoning board heard from residents and business owners about plans to relocate Talbot House Ministries. \u201cLet me be blunt. It\u2019s foolish to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56850,"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":"6","_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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDdcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtOTItNS0xLndlYnA_Zml0PTUyNSUyQzI3NiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6Ikxha2VzIENodXJjaCwgYnVzaW5lc3Mgb3duZXJzIG9iamVjdCB0byBUYWxib3QgSG91c2UgcmVsb2NhdGlvbiIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.kmjpSuDXLyp8sYsjW1Wbd3zBzexaFPw_SZZHOJ7OmAkMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":56850,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-92-5-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[11848,11847],"class_list":["post-56849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-business-owners-object-to-talbot-house-relocation","tag-lakes-church"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56849","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=56849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56851,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56849\/revisions\/56851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}