With airport expansion on the horizon, Lakeland plans to buy 31 acres from Morgan Creek
LAKELAND ― Lakeland officials expressed interest in purchasing nearly 31 acres near Lakeland Linder International Airport that was destined to become a housing development.
The City Commission voted unanimously Monday to purchase 30.98 acres of vacant land from Morgan Creek Properties LLC for the purpose of expanding the municipal-owned airport. The property is located about 4250 Medulla Road, south of the airport.
"This gives us an opportunity. If we let it go by us today, once it’s made into homes, it's never coming back," Airport Director Kris Hallstrand said.
The Morgan Creek property was in the midst of undergoing its final site plan review to become 74 residential units when the airport saw a need for growth and opened negotiations to purchase the land, Deputy City Attorney Ramona Sirianni said.
"There is no good that comes of this being a housing development," Hallstrand told the commission at Friday's agenda study. "This is probably best utilized to support our education programs, partners at Sun ‘n Fun and the future of the airport."
Hallstrand said the airport had its environmental engineers assess the property to realize that it contains wetlands that would "conservatively" be worth five or more wetland credits, which municipalities need to offset the impact of future development on wetlands. These five credits could be used to offset future development of Lakeland Linder, Hallstrand said.
While the city has an agreement to purchase wetland credits through the Boy Scouts of America, Hallstrand said the wetland credits are becoming increasingly hard to come by, often posing difficulty for developers. Currently, one wetlands credit for the Alafia River Basin is going for $172,000.
"This helps us be able to take care of ourselves for all our future development," Hallstrand said.
Of the nearly 31 acres the city hopes to purchase, Hallstrand said roughly 11 acres are upland and potentially suitable for future construction. The Aerospace Center for Excellence, or ACE, has expressed an interest in leasing this section for $50,000 annually to support its year-round operations. This would serve as another revenue source for the city.
"I know Sun ‘n Fun has big plans already for that parcel, it's going to really help their campus and future of our aviation programs," Hallstrand said.
ACE and Sun 'n Fun are in the process of creating a new master plan for the next 50 years, as the airport's future plans to build a parallel runway will displace some of its current buildings, rendering some of their space unusable, Hallstrand said.
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One other benefit the airport director pointed out is that 74 fewer homes being built close to the runways meant fewer potential residents to make noise complaints.
"With our expanding operation, noise is something we are going to generate. The more people we bring in next to the airport, the more people that are going to be a little upset with us," Hallstrand said.
The city will have a 45-day due diligence period to survey the proposed purchase site and conduct any inspections necessary to assure the land is suited for the city's intended use. Lakeland will have to notify Morgan Creek before 45 days are up whether it wishes to terminate its agreement, or purchase the property. If it decides to purchase, the sale of the land will close within 10 days.
The potential $2.85 million sale will be financed by the city through an internal loan. The airport will repay the city at $200,000 a year for 10 years before making a balloon payment of $1,725,000 at the end of the loan.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland looks to buy 31 acres from Morgan Creek to expand airport
