Commissions across Polk County have been busy at work this week preparing to welcome potentially three new residential developments to the county, including in Lakeland.

The first will fill the need for more apartment options on Lakeland’s northside. This week, the commission voted 3-1 to approve a zoning change to allow for a 34-unit complex, situated behind the Publix in the Gibsonia community.

The future site of the new apartments | Photo via Google Maps

The proposal called to rezone three acres from “residential low” to “residential medium” — which changes what types of residences can be built on any given property. Residential low, the previous status of the land, called for low-density housing such as single-family homes, while the new status bumps the area up to medium-density, which would allow for multi-family residences like townhomes, duplexes, etc.

Down the road in Winter Haven, local commissioners approved a 207-unit residential development, as well as a 70,000-sqft commercial mixed-use space. The developments passed unanimously on pieces of land located south of Old Lucerne Park Road and north of State Road 55.

A rough outline of the Winter Haven development | Photo via Google Maps

The approved development could soon be the home to an assisted living facility, an independent living facility, a memory care facility, and commercial use space, with 207 age-restricted residential units. If all goes according to plan, construction would begin this summer or fall of 2022. However, the site plan must receive official approval, dependent on the developer’s traffic review of the surrounding area.

Over in Lake Wales, the Polk County commission approved the plans for a 45-lot, single-family development, spanning 20.34 acres off of Timberlane Road. To keep the surrounding residents in the rural area in mind, the new development is said to contribute a 1.5% impact to existing traffic. For context, impactful contributions must exceed 5%.

The general area of Lake Wales' development | Photo via Google Maps

This development, located specifically across from Shady Wood Lane, north of CR 17, and south of Stump Knocker Drive, will be a short walk from Lake Pierce and about a 20-minute drive south to Lake Wales’ city limits.

Anyone else love to see the growth in Polk County? Tell us which development you’re the most excited to see come to fruition.