The presence of nearly 200 Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rentals in central Lakeland is “changing the character of our core neighborhoods and contributing to housing scarcity,” the president of the Lake Morton Neighborhood Association told city commissioners. On Monday, he asked them to look into regulating the rentals. While commissioners did not say whether […]
Category: Neighborhoods
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
City Considers Apartment Complex at South Frontage Road and Pipkin Creek Road
City commissioners vote Monday on a zoning proposal to allow 120 apartments on now-vacant land at the southeast corner of Parkway Frontage Road South and Pipkin Creek Road, The Ledger reports. If approved, the 5.76-acre parcel will be paired with property immediately to the east for a 391-apartment complex. The land is currently zoned for […]
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
Lake Miriam Apartments Developer Offers to Reduce Size of Project
The controversial apartment complex proposed for Lake Miriam Drive near South Florida Avenue would have 33 fewer units and no four-story buildings, under an updated plan submitted by its developer. The new plans from Preferred Apartments Community call for 211 units instead of 244 and an increase in parking to 368 from 356, or 1.75 […]
Posted inNeighborhoods, Transportation
Survey and Public Forum in June Will Collect Comments on South Florida Avenue Road Diet
People can tell the city of Lakeland and the Florida Department of Transportation what they want to see done on South Florida Avenue between downtown and Dixieland in a June survey followed by a public forum at the RP Funding Center.
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
Wedgewood Golf Course Sold; 1,400 Residences Planned
North Lakeland’s 90-year-oid Wedgewood Golf Course has been sold to developers who propose building nearly 1,400 homes — including more than 1,100 apartments — on the 117-acre property south of Lake Gibson.
Posted inBusiness, Neighborhoods
Development Momentum Generating Interest in Lakeland’s Redevelopment Districts
The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency initiated 105 projects in the city’s three redevelopment districts in 2021 and completed 49. They ranged from murals in Dixieland to The Well entrepreneur center on Parker Street to affordable housing projects at Twin Lakes and Vermont Place.
Posted inHousing, Neighborhoods
Lakeland Rents Rise Fastest in the Downtown ZIP Code
Residential rents in Lakeland rose an average 11.1% during the last year, but increases were far steeper — nearly 20% on average — near the center of town, according to information compiled by Rent Hub. Still, the central city has Lakeland’s lowest median rents; the highest were found in the southside ZIP codes of 33811 […]
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
City to Ask Florida Attorney General if State Law ‘Expressly’ Allows Hunting in Lakeland
It never hurts to at least ask, even when the answer is likely to confirm the Lakeland City Commission is being drawn into a brewing battle between hunters and landowners that could have ramifications statewide and beyond.
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
Zoning Change for Grasslands Self-Storage Facility Nixed But Not Dead
The Lakeland City Commission Monday denied a proposed zoning change that would allow a 46-foot tall, 102,675-square-foot “mini warehouse/self-storage facility with outdoor RV storage” to be built on a 4.33-acre parcel on Harden Boulevard a little north of the entrance to Grasslands.
Posted inCity Hall, Neighborhoods
National Hunting Groups Ready to Push Back Against Any Lake Parker Duck Restrictions
Duck hunters’ predawn shotgun blasts echoed across a cove in southwest Lake Parker three times in January, startling lakeside homeowners and prompting calls to police and state fish and game officers.