Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 1217
Lake Wales area residents concerned about future growth and development will have yet another opportunity to help shape the future of the community this Tuesday evening, July 11 at the James P. Austin Community Center. A two-hour meeting will start at 6:00 and include "a review of updated plan concepts and initial implementation strategies," according to lead planners at Dover, Kohl & Partners. The "work-in-progress" update will give citizens a chance to add their ideas and...
A 600-acre solar farm on the north side of Lake Wales containing some 170,000 to 200,000 solar panels has passed the 50% completion mark and is expected to come online before the end of the year. According to a press release issued by Tampa Electric Media Spokesperson Cherie Jacobs at the time of the application, the project will generate 74.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 11,500 homes. Jacobs noted that the project will produce no emissions and generate virt...
Crews from Gomez Construction have made substantial progress on a block of West Park Avenue between First Street and Wetmore Street. The reconstruction is part of the $11.5 million transformation of that street and, eventually, the adjoining eastern blocks and the adjacent MarketPlace. The Lake Wales Post office and adjacent businesses are being served from a parking lot accessible from Orange Avenue, one block to the north. Signage has been placed to direct traffic to the...
A new bicycle and pedestrian trail will continue the expansion of a growing network connecting neighborhoods across Lake Wales following city commission approval of an interlocal agreement with Polk County on Wednesday. Creation of a functional network of trails is a repeated recommendation contained in the Lake Wales Connected plan, cited as a significant contributor to the health and well-being of residents. The Ridge Scenic Highway Trail segment will extend 3,975 feet and...
A 300-unit "luxury" townhome development may soon provide a different option for home-buyers in Lake Wales. The complex dubbed Ridge Luxury Townhomes will include 55 new buildings to be located off Old Scenic Highway adjacent to the Duke Energy maintenance facility. Lake Caroline, a small lake just south of the nearly 30-acre site, will offer views for some units, and a community center with a proposed water feature will also be constructed. The project is one of several...
Lawyers for the city of Lake Wales are asking a circuit judge to rule that Ray Brown lied to city commissioners about his financing and progress in redeveloping the historic Walesbilt Hotel and that those fraudulent representations led commissioners to deed the hotel to him in 2011. If Circuit Judge William Sites rules for the city, it would pave the way for returning the partially renovated hotel, dating to 1926, back to the city. The city is suing Brown's company, Dixie Wale...
Fourteen new Southern Live Oaks and ten Florida Holly trees were planted last week as the latest landscaping contribution toward recreating the "City in a Garden" ideal of Lake Wales founders. Lake Wales Heritage, an Olmsted Conservancy, undertook the plantings as part of their city-wide efforts. The trees in the Druid Hills neighborhood are the latest step by the Heritage organization toward completing the landscape design of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who planned both the...
Access to the busy Lake Wales Care Center Thrift Store will be restricted until after the Independence Day holiday as crews from the Williams Company reconstruct curbing and resurface the parking lot at the store. The lot is connected to the Park Avenue reconstruction being performed by the contractor as part of the Lake Wales Connected project. Closure of one access point to that street and the redesign of sidewalks and curbs caused significant impact, which led to the...
Two large residential developments proposed by the same developer recently met with very different responses from the Lake Wales city commission. After unanimously approving a 930-lot single-family subdivision known as the Grove at Orchard Hills, the commission's 3-2 vote rejected a neighboring 300-unit project brought by the same developer. David Waronker of Celebration has been the developer of record for several large subdivision projects in Lake Wales, including the expans...
A special on-line discussion on "Complete Streets and Mobility" with nationally-recognized transportation expert Wade Walker will be offered to area residents Thursday at 4:00 pm. The presentation is part of the Lake Wales Envisioned effort to reshape and redirect the future of growth and development in Lake Wales. The Envisioned effort is addressing multiple facets of that challenge. Another recent presentation focused on what is being described as "the big green network"...
The first new development to adopt the "Traditional Neighborhood Design" principles adopted by the Lake Wales City Commission has been approved. The concept lies at the heart of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan currently under development by planning consultants. The adopted plan for the 18.66-acre site includes the mixed residential types, rear parking, sidewalks leading to nearby commercial services, a "green street," and other features advocated in the city's adopted set of...
Construction is moving at a rapid pace at a new subdivision being built north of Chalet Suzanne Road. Leoma's Landing will feature 336 single-family homes in a mix of one and two-story designs. Paved streets are already in place, along with underground utilities, but without sidewalks. The surge in construction has come after years of pause on the part of the developers, who began to advance the project only last year after gaining preliminary approval several years ago....
The conversion of the former McLaughlin Academy of Excellence, a middle school, into McLaughlin Middle/High School is moving ahead with the construction of a new gymnasium, the first of several new facilities that will be added to the school's 38-acre campus in coming months and years. The new gymnasium will serve the full line-up of athletics anticipated for the McLaughlin Phoenix teams. The 28,300 square-foot gymnasium will host a variety of athletic programs, including...
Vaughn Cofer of Babson Park passed away Saturday, June 17, 2023 at George G. Forsythe Hospice House in Auburndale. She was born October 14, 1928 in Glade Hill, Virginia to the late Ulis and Nannie Powell; she moved to Babson Park from Frostproof in 1958. Vaughn worked as secretary, environmental teacher, and substitute teacher for the Polk County School System for 10 years. She then worked for 10 years as a staff writer and family news writer for the Daily Highlander where...
The interconnectedness of the Lake Wales Ridge and surrounding public and private lands will be the focus of an online "Deep Dive" presentation Wednesday afternoon from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. Those lands are the subject of detailed study as part of the Lake Wales Envisioned planning ongoing, which will address "Olmsted's Garden City in 10, 25, and 50 Years," The in-depth discussion of the draft "Big Green" and "Little Green" land conservation and open space concepts under...
A new market analysis by a prestigious firm has identified a large measure of demand for Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) residences in Lake Wales and Polk County. The study indicates that there is a potential market for new housing units within new traditional neighborhoods in Lake Wales which would amount to more than ten percent of all new housing demand in Polk County. Some developers have expressed doubt that they could sell "traditional" neighborhoods here. The...
A vision for the long-term future of the Lake Wales region that shifts away from the contemporary development style toward "traditional neighborhoods" was the subject of discussion at the Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary Thursday morning. "Most towns are already 100 years old when they decide what they want to be when they grow up," city planner Victor Dover told more than two dozens in attendance, explaining that Lake Wales has a huge head start due to the efforts of the city's...
A downtown business improvement effort "focused on asset development and retail recruitment" was outlined to a large group of downtown property owners at a Wednesday luncheon. Elliott Cook of Retail Strategies told those in attendance that his purpose was to gather information from them that would be used in their efforts. Cook promised that his firm would provide owners with the tools for success. Retail Strategies was hired by city government to help recruit new business...
A proposal to add a huge swath of northern Lake Wales to the current Community Redevelopment District map will be the topic of a staffed public presentation at the Eagle Ridge Mall food court this Wednesday. The public is invited to stop by between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm to learn about the effects that would flow from the expansion and offer their opinions. A large tract west of US 27 between Thompson Nursery Road, Chalet Suzanne Road and Mountain Lake Cutoff Road being...
The sale of five lots owned by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency will spur the development of new affordable housing for workers and retirees. An agreement for the sale of the five properties for a total of $34,157.00 to Florida Development Corp, Inc. (FDC) will allow the company to develop five two-bedroom rental units on the lots, located on Sessoms Avenue, D and E Streets. Although a staff report lists the units as having a single bathroom each, an attached floo...
The outsized impact of a relatively small number of Lake Wales women continues to shape and improve the lives of Lake Wales residents. With only two dozen members, the GFWC Woman's Club of Lake Wales continues to be a dynamic contributing force within the community. Part of the international Greater Federation of Women's Clubs, the local organization has served the community for more than 100 years. Operating from their historic clubhouse and auditorium at 275 East Park...
In a long-delayed ruling, the State Attorney's office has announced that their investigation into a exchange of gunfire between police and a suspect last August determined that police use of deadly force was justified. Earnest Borders, 57, of Lake Wales, was killed. A police department K-9, Max, also died in the gunfire. A letter signed by Assistant State Attorney Mark Thomas Levine states that "it is my opinion that Officer Jared Joyner and Officer Esaul Hernandez were justif...
Charmayne Turner Marston of Babson Park passed away Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born July 5, 1947 in Fort Thomas, Kentucky to the late Frank and Martha Turner. Charmayne lived in Kentucky before moving to Lake Wales where she has resided for the past 38 years. She was a homemaker and a member of First United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School. Charmayne was a volunteer at the Little Theater, was named volunteer of the year at...
A 300-unit subdivision that would wrap around the northern and eastern sides of Ridge Manor has been delayed after the withdrawal of an application for a permit from the city. The project, dubbed Steeple Chase, would occupy almost 98 acres on three parcels stretching east from Scenic Highway to beyond 9th Street. Developers had requested a Preliminary Subdivision Plat and a Special Exception Use Permit. After their application was subject to a 35-minute discussion at a...
Police are seeking the whereabouts of a Haines City man who reportedly drove at high speed and ran a red light on US 27, resulting in the deaths of his two passengers. Lake Wales Police have obtained an arrest warrant for 40-year-old Aljerune Brooks of Haines City. An investigation confirmed Brooks was the driver of the Cadillac that failed to stop at the signal at Washington Avenue, crashing into a "yard dog" truck cab owned by Florida's Natural. The driver of the truck,...
