The two candidates for mayor offered starkly different visions for what is needed to develop northwest Lakeland at a forum on Tuesday. Incumbent Bill Mutz called for mentoring, training and creating minority business financing, while challenger Saga Stevin pushed for more policing in an area she claimed is marked by gangs and violent crime.
Category: Neighborhoods
Posted inNeighborhoods, News Roundup
Read It in the Morning Paper: Historic House, Election
HISTORIC HOUSE: Michael and Annalee Mutz are restoring the long-neglected 1908 Queen Anne house at 1022 Success Ave. Michael buys, restores and sells distressed houses for a living, but this is where the young couple plans to raise their family. ELECTION: One race on the Nov. 2 city ballot is a reprise of last spring’s […]
Posted inFood & Dining
Mary’s Bagel Café Coming to Lakeland’s Medical Corridor
The property at North Florida Avenue and 8th Street is special to Denise Gilmore. She spent much of her childhood there in her grandparents’ house. She worked across the street at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center for 27 years. And she is in the process of making it the home of Mary’s Bagel Café, named […]
Posted inNeighborhoods
County Approves 188 Imperial Lakes Houses, Denies 200+ North Lakeland Apartments
Polk County commissioners today made very different decisions on two land-use issues that both faced major opposition from neighbors, The Ledger reports. They unanimously approved rezoning land at the Imperial Lakes Golf Course for 188 homes. They rejected 4-1 a request involving 200+ apartments that front U.S. 98 North and back up to single-family residences, […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
City Approves Townhouses Near Lake Parker; Meeting Roundup
A 32-unit townhouse community will be built between Lake Parker and the Lakeland Hills Boulevard medical corridor as a result of City Commission action on Monday. The commission also approved a major update to the city’s comprehensive plan, tax incentives for two planned Garden District apartment complexes, and developing a plan to extend sewers to […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
Sewer Line Replacement Tops City List for Federal Relief Funds
Nearly 80 percent of the $22.7 million the city of Lakeland expects to receive from the federal American Rescue Plan will go to replace a failing sewer trunk in southwest Lakeland, city commissioners decided today.
Posted inHistory
Century-Old Bungalow Moved a Block to Preserve History
A 1920s bungalow slated for demolition was saved when historic preservationist Gregory Fancelli had it moved one block from Orange Street to Lime Street on Sunday, Fox 13 News reports. The move, months in the making, took 3 1/2 hours. Keep scrolling for the video report.
Posted inNeighborhoods
29 Baby Swans Released Into Lake Morton
Twenty-nine baby swans have been released into Lake Morton following a successful breeding season, Fox 13 News reports. The challenge for the cygnets is to avoid predators. Assuming many do, the city of Lakeland may hold another swan sale to avoid overpopulation, as it did last fall.
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
City Faces Two Lawsuits Over Denying Cell Towers
The city of Lakeland faces two federal lawsuits over decisions denying cell towers requested for southwest Lakeland, The Ledger reports. North American Towers LLC claims city commissioners improperly denied its request for a monopole on undeveloped land between Ariana Street and Lake Hunter based on citizen testimony that “lacks sufficient factual content.” In a separate […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
City Approves Workforce Community, FSC Nursing Move, AFI Facility
A community of 199 workforce houses near Lake Parker, Florida Southern College’s plans to move its graduate nursing program to the former St. Joseph Academy and a new home for Alliance for Independence programs all got the go-ahead to proceed from the Lakeland City Commission today.