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Lakeland’s City Commission voted unanimously Monday to allow a community of 64 two-story townhomes — tentatively named “The Enclave at Kathleen” — on a wedge-shaped parcel of land northeast of Kathleen and Sleepy Hill Roads.
But with some conditions.
The heavily wooded, 7.51-acre parcel is bounded by Sleepy Hill Elementary to the north and Sleepy Hill Middle School to the east. It also shares a property line with Griffin Cemetery.
The developer’s pitch: In a letter and two presentations to the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, land use attorney Tim Campbell, with Clark, Campbell, Lancaster, Workman & Airth, P.A., said:
- The project would help to address the city’s shortage of housing.
- The townhomes would be individually owned and priced at market rates, but intended to be within reach of average consumers.
- The location is an infill site and walkable to nearby schools and recreation facilities.
- Each home would have some grass in front of it, for a suburban feeling.
- None of the homes would back directly to Kathleen or Sleepy Hill.
Commission actions: The city annexed the land in 1997, but never assigned it a land use or zoning category. The commission voted unanimously to classify it as “residential medium” with RA-4 zoning, which allows single-family homes.
Then the commissioners approved a conditional use ordinance for the townhome community, with several stipulations.
The land is owned by James P. Gills, Jr., who donated property for the Fontaine Gills YMCA two blocks away. The developer is listed as Air-Sun Florida LLC.
Designs for the site were prepared by Matcon Construction Services and LevelUp engineering consultants, both of Tampa.
Trees: Air-Sun would be required to preserve at least 30 feet of the existing tree canopy along Kathleen and Sleepy Hill roads. However, with permission from the city’s arborist, “immature, non-native or invasive trees may be removed if found to enhance the health of larger, protected trees.”
Within the subdivision, the developer is encouraged to preserve as many mature trees as possible. Campbell noted that there is a financial incentive to do so, because the city’s tree ordinance requires developers to pay a fee for every healthy tree they remove.
Traffic: Original designs only had one entrance into the community from Sleepy Hill Road. City planners required the developer to add a second access from Kathleen Road to distribute traffic around the intersection.
Lakeland’s Vision Zero Action Plan identified Kathleen Road as one of the city’s top 10 most dangerous. Area resident Jim Robinson said there’s a serious accident at the intersection of Sleepy Hill and Kathleen “probably once a month.”
“We have lost one of our neighbors because of that intersection,” he said.
City staff noted in its review of the townhouse proposal that Lakeland has received federal funding for an audit of Sleepy Hill Road and some “short-term, low-cost countermeasures” to make it safer.
Parking: The homes must be set back at least 20 feet from the road with a porch or stoop and front-facing, single-car garage. There must be a 10-foot-wide driveway with room for a second car.
Residents won’t be allowed to use their garages for anything other than parking.
The concept plan also shows 18 parallel parking spaces for residents or visitors, with additional parking at a mailbox and playground area.
Flooding concerns: No community members spoke at Monday’s meeting; however, at a public hearing on May 20, four homeowners expressed concerns about flooding and traffic safety.
Robinson, who lives on Sleepy Hill Lane, noted that when Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Milton hit Lakeland last year, “We saw more water in our neighborhood than we have seen in more than a decade.”
Kenneth Kemp said much of the soil in the area is clay-based and does not absorb water well. He said the proposed development, even with the planned retention ponds, will send stormwater down to the homes on Sleepy Hill Lane, which are 10 to 45 feet lower in elevation.
Campbell said he had a “good conversation” with Kemp and shared his concerns and information with the development team.
“The stormwater management, the design of it, obviously will be important … We’ll do a lot more geotechnical analysis to make sure they’re designed right,” Campbell said. “We understand his concern. We don’t want him to have issues either.”
City staff added that the Southwest Florida Water Management District will have to approve the plans.
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The article states that YOUR garage is to be used ONLY for parking. This implies that you cannot even put a broom in YOUR privately owned garage. I suppose you’ll get rewarded if you turn in your neighbor for violating this covenant. Gestapo tactics IMHO. I hope future residents read the very fine print regarding these covenants.