AVON PARK — A 15-foot tall illegally built building, which was illegally used for citrus-related business in a residential neighborhood just north of this city, will probably have to be torn down or moved as the result of a ruling by the Highlands County Planning and Zoning Commission. Complaints from homeowners in the neighborhood just north of the city limits, off County Road 17-A, led to Highlands County Code Enforcement citing the owner for numerous violations. The most serious citations were building the building without a building permit, putting an industrial building in a residential neighborhood, and running a business operation in a residentially zoned tract of homes. ...more

June 13, 2008

I'd like to ask the Highlands County planning and zoning board, "Why are you trying to ruin beautiful Lake Blue?" At a public hearing on Sept. 11, the county commissioners voted to change the zoning on two parcels of land on Lake Blue from R-1 and R-1A to B-2. The vote was tied 3-3. Then Chairman Lew Carter broke the tie by voting for the zoning change. This zoning change can only be good for the land planner out of Coral Springs, not for the voting homeowners on Lake Blue in Lake Placid. With all of the commercial property in Lake Placid, why destroy Lake Blue? ...more

September 22, 2007