Polk commissioners get an earful over Grenelefe development district before its denial

Polk County Commissioners voted down the proposed formation of a community development district to build roads and other infrastruction within an undeveloped portion of land south of the former Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort.

On Tuesday in Bartow, Chairman Bill Braswell and Commissioner George Lindsey were the lone votes in favor of creating the CDD. In a separate and preceding vote, Lindsey also had motioned to approve it, but that vote also was denied by his colleagues by the same 3-2 margin.

The dual votes followed an hourlong public hearing that drew nearly 100 people in opposition. About a dozen of them spoke to complain that the Grenelefe community already lacked the infrastructure to support the water and sewer needs of existing residents. Adding new residents would make matters worse.

They also had issues about potential loss of quality of life many have enjoyed in Grenelefe for decades. They told the board that approval of a development district would destroy habitat for endangered species and increase traffic. They said the area cannot accommodate additional population growth – nor would the schools have capacity.

A mortgage broker, Pablo Llavona, said he was pro-development, but he wanted the commissioners to know the Grenelefe utility issues boil water notices at least once or twice a year, and water is unavailable several times a year.

“Infrastructure-wise, it’s not there,” Llavona said. “They can say whatever they want. It’s not there.”

He also said for 15 years he had helped new residents finance homes in the Grenelefe area, but then they get their tax bills, which include CDD fees, and they tell him they need to sell because they cannot afford to stay in the home. This happens at least every other month, he said.

“CDDs are never a good thing for these new people,” Llavona said. “Especially the people who live in Polk County. They can’t afford them.”

Resident John Stewart told the board the wastewater treatment plant cannot handle sewage from more housing units.

“I’m seeing something wrong here and not a way to stop it,” he said.

He added the wastewater treatment plant in the area was built in the 1970s and operating at one-third capacity. Further, it gives off a strong stench that can be smelled up to 10 or 12 houses away.

Citing a report on the facility, Stewart said at three lift stations an inspection had found two inoperative pumps and there were several other maintenance tasks and equipment repairs needed. Despite its current condition, the Grenelefe facility has a permit with three years remaining.

Local resident and Polk County Planning Commissioner Tommy Addison said during public comments that Florida Department of Environmental Protection documents compiled by county staff for the commissioners show the plant was designed for a capacity of 0.68 million gallons per day but FDEP has it limited to 0.34.

“Which tells me, it’s not even capable," he said. “It’s not been maintained to handle the load it’s already got. And now you’re talking about adding more to that.”

Despite the denial on Tuesday of the CDD, the property owner sought and gained approvals in 2009 to build more than 423 homes on the 132.68-acre property on 50 to 70 feet lots that would have been covered by the CDD.

That was a modification of the original Grenelefe Golf & Tennis Resort planned unit development approved by the board in 1979, also known as the Arrowhead Development of Regional Impact.

Had the Grenelefe Community Development District been approved, it would have gained the power to issue bonds for infrastructure needed to support a subdivision.

The 2009 approval was for more homes than the recently proposed CDD would have encompassed. But a “package” sewer plant in Grenelefe would not have the wastewater capacity for more than 423 new homes, a county staff report said. The initial planned development for the land had proposed townhouses, but they are not included in the current development.

Limited review powers

Before the public comments, Polk County Attorney Randy Mink explained the “limited review” powers the board has for CDD applications. He added the action the board was about to take was not approval of a development nor a land use change.

"The board’s review is governed by statute and is limited to six specific items provided by the statute, which the applicant will go over during the presentation,” Mink said.

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The CDD would have covered undeveloped land along the bend and south of Lake Marion Road and the former Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort, which is southeast of Haines City near the western short of Lake Marion.

The land is already zoned low-residential X, which allows five units per acre. It is also within the Grenelefe utility enclave area and has access to wastewater connections.

“There is enough capacity to serve these 423 units within the proposed CDD,” said Erik Peterson, Polk County principal planner.

“This CDD meets the state requirements for adoption,” Peterson said.

There is currently a much larger plan for 1,900 residential units on the adjacent former golf course to the north of the property. The CDD could eventually be expanded to cover the additional acreage of the former golf course.

He added that a comprehensive plan amendment in 2008 expanded the utility enclave area to include the land where the applicant wants a CDD, and there was a text amendment in the county's land development code specifically for the utility enclave area that was adopted in 2009, the same year a planned development was adopted.

Braswell asked whether the homes could be built regardless of the approval or denial of the CDD, and Peterson said yes.

“Will they need to come before us for these 423 homes?”  Braswell asked.

“No, sir,” Peterson replied.

“It’s an under-a-gun deal. I’m trying to make that point here, there are 423 homes here going to be built regardless of what this board decides,” Braswell said.

“The CDD today is just to approve a funding mechanism to do that,” he added. “And if we don’t approve it they’ll just go somewhere else and borrow money. It’s just as simple as that.”

Commissioner Neil Combee asked Peterson whether there would be a site plan the commissioners would be able to review for the current plans on the land.

But the board had already approved a site plan in 2009, Peterson said. Only if they wanted to increase density would they have to gain approval from the board, but they are actually scaling back the number of units.

Like a city or government entity with less policing powers, a CDD can protect the county from financial liability because taxpayers in the CDD pay back the bonds for infrastructure, Peterson said. The members of the CDD board are elected by the residents.

Arguing for the CDD

The public hearing had started with the applicant, Jere Earlywine, representing KUTAK ROCK, LLP. He the petition for the CDD has met all the criteria in the statute to be approved.

He said the CDD would be a better entity to maintain the nearly $60 million in infrastructure needed for the homes to be built compared to just a homeowner’s association. It can also apply for a FEMA funds.

He said CDDs are better at maintaining communities than HOAs and are more “transparent” because they are subject to government-in-the-sunshine laws. The Grenelefe CDD would not oversee individual properties or “architectural” issues as an HOA can do.

Earlywine could not be reached for comment by phone Wednesday about the next steps the applicant might take. He left the meeting quickly prior to the vote against the CDD.

Lindsey had tried to convince his colleagues that Florida statute has six requirements that a CDD must meet, and voting against it would certainly come with a costly appeal and legal fees to pay.

“We’ve gotten off track here,” he said. “There is a statutory requirement to meet to establish a CDD and it has been met. Our role is to see that the statutory requirements are met.”

If one of the six was missing, “We would be obliged to turn it down, Lindsey said. “But once that sixth one is satisfied, we are obliged to move it forward. This is a ministerial not a discretionary action.”

Further, he compared the 2009 site plan to a zoning designation, as neither has an expiration date, despite his colleagues' surprise the planned development was still valid for the area.

He said transportation cannot be used as a reason to deny development, but lack of water and sewer capacity could. Lindsey said other agencies would be weighing in on those aspects of the development, not the commissioners.

The landowner, Smokey Groves Development LLC, had wanted to establish the Grenelefe Community Development District. County staff has recommended approval of the CDD.

“The proposed CDD is one alternative available for delivering its needed community development services and facilities without the additional burden to taxpayers outside of the CDD,” the staff report said. “Another alternative available is for the developer to pay for all the infrastructure improvements up front.

“The debt of the CDD runs with the properties created within the CDD, which lessens the chance that it will fall upon public responsibility,” the report said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk commissioner get an earful from public over Grenelefe development