Landowner wants to convert grove to housing

John Strang has seen his 11.2-acre citrus grove die after his trees got infected by citrus greening disease. To save his property, which is at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Sebring Parkway he is asking the city of Sebring to annex and rezone the site so he can build a rental development.

During Tuesday night's city council meeting, Strang, owner of Gapway Groves, and Tom Daly, president of Daly Design Group Inc., asked for annexation of the 11.2 acres and rezoning on 9.9 acres to high density residential R-3 and rezoning of one acre to commercial C-1.

Strang's citrus trees are "virtually dead." The greening disease makes infected citrus trees inedible for juicing and consumption.

"Once infected there is no hope for the fruit of the tress," said Denise Feiber, spokesperson for the Division of Plant Industry.

In Florida there are 32 counties, including Highlands County, that are positive for citrus greening disease.

Strang's idea would convert the entire property into a rental development. In the conceptual design of the project there are 15 buildings, 40 percent would be one story. It also includes a commercial low density property suitable for a bank, offices or a day care.

"Once the Sebring Parkway was constructed they Gapway Groves started realizing that the viability and maintenance of the grove would be problematic. They wanted to give it an appropriate future land use," Daly said.

"The idea is not to have these massive three-story buildings on that property," Daly said.

City council agreed that the city would benefit from the tax base.

The development would also help fill in a vacant lot and provide buffering from the Sebring Parkway to the other properties along Scenic Highway, Daly contended.

"The good news is that they would pay taxes," said Councilman John Clark.

But if they agree to the development some issues need to be worked out. One of the city's main concerns with the project is the entry way to the development.

The city and county require two entry ways for any development. The problem with the current design is that one entry way is along Sebring Parkway - something that the city is opposed to.

The design of the Sebring Parkway would be compromised if the city started whacking at it, Clark said.

"... And the city could only expect the busy intersection to get busier in future years," he added.

City staff is also concerned that driveway entry points along Scenic Highway would create a precedent for more driveways along the curb and cuts.

The other entry point along Lakeview Drive raised concerns with Councilwoman Margie Rhoades, who thinks that possible traffic issues may arise with the rental community.

"I know that living on that end of the lake, it can generate a lot of traffic especially going to and coming from work," Rhoades said.

"The groves don't make noise or generate a lot of traffic," she said.

Despite the concerns with traffic, entry points and whether a rental community would work for the area, council requested Daly rework the plans and come back to council with a developer's agreement during the June city council meeting.

"One way or the other something is going to be built there. If we do it we have control over what it is," said Councilman Bud Whitlock.