An article in the News Chief talks about the recent growth in restaurants in Winter Haven. There was even a 'study' done about it. According to the article the study was completed by Mainsail Development Group, the builders of Cypress Station. Yes, there has been some growth, but also some closings, Quizno's & Atlanta Bread.

What I found funny was the quote from Mike Byrum of Mainsail on why they conducted the study:

Byrum and others at Mainsail Development Group did the study "because it was interesting," Byrum said.

Hmmm, it doesn't have anything to do with drumming up interest in the large, empty retail space they own?

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A while back I posted about the possibility of Lakeland's Linder Airport becoming a destination for low-cost commercial airlines. As I said then, it might sound far-fetched, but then again, maybe not.

Wednesday's edition of USAToday has a feature story on the growth of mid-size airports located near major cities:

Midsize airports outside major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, are the fastest-growing in the nation and have seen passenger and flight volumes soar by up to 400% in the past decade, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data shows.

The growth is primarily fueled by two factors: discount airlines flocking to cheaper secondary airports and population growth in regions located about an hour from New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, airport consultant Mike Boyd said.

Here is the key line for the Polk County/Lakeland area:

"Where you've got a population base and ease of access, you're going to get growth," Boyd said. The trend has helped alleviate strain on major metro airports and stimulated suburban development.

One of the info-graphics with the article shows that the busiest round-trip route is Atlanta-Orlando. While Sanford International Airport also serves Orlando, Lakeland is in a good position to cover Orlando and Tampa.

Would Lakeland build-up the infrastructure at Linder to handle commercial airlines?

The drawback might just be all the residential development that has occurred around the airport/Polk Parkway. I'm not sure local residents would like to hear steady jet-service over their neighborhoods.

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The Orlando Sentinel has an update that the CSX/State of Florida deal for commuter rail is done:

With one day to spare before losing out on about $180 million in federal funding, CSX and the state of Florida on Thursday finally reached a deal that will turn over 61 miles of tracks from DeLand to Orlando to Poinciana for the region's first commuter rail system.

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I'm on a long business trip that brought me to Atlanta on Sunday. While driving to meet a friend for breakfast in Atlanta I looked up and saw this:

It's the entrance to the CSX Hulsey Yard, aka Intermodal Atlanta. Small world :-) I didn't have a chance to do any other looking since I was late for me meet-up.

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Traveling northbound on highway 27 in Haines City I've witnessed a few close calls and one accident all in one location. The location is directly in front of the new Lowes in Haines City just north of Wal-Mart Supercenter. The situation is the same every time, a semi-truck is pulling out of the Lowes parking lot, turning left to head south on 27. The semi crosses the northbound lanes and stops in the median turn lane waiting for southbound traffic to clear. While he is waiting, his trailer is blocking part of (or in some places completely) the far left northbound lane. The close calls that I’ve seen are when cars following the semis out of Lowes see that the northbound lanes are clear, and they also think that it’s a great idea to pull out into the left turn lane. This totally blocks the left turn opportunities for southbound traffic, and the braking noises are thunderous. The accident occurred when one semi followed another into the turning lane on Hwy 27, and totally blocked all northbound traffic. I'm not a big fan of adding MORE lights to 27, but something needs to be done about this. Is it possible to make it a "no left turn" out of Lowes and make drivers make a U-turn at the next lighted intersection?

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Well everybody who was anybody was there. CSX folks, City of Winter Haven folks, Anne Furr of the LDDA, Kathleen Munson of the LACC. If you had a stake in the CSX debate you were there.

The purpose of the meeting is to allow regional/state/public agencies to put forth their case with respect to the DRI application. Contrary to what was in the paper, this is not a public hearing and does not offer the ability for public input, that will come at a later process. The discussion is also centered on the applicant's application and is not a discussion of regional decisions regarding rail, etc. Agency comments are limited to five minutes a piece.

I think after the intro, a number of citizens who were expecting to speak were quietly upset.

Neil Frazee with MSCW gave a brief project overview, nothing new to many of the folks in the audience who have been following the process. The proposed project is a one phase project. Construction starts in 2008, completed in 2009. The project will employ up to about 200 employees once completed.

Anne Stokes with Southeast Archeological Research then spoke about the archeological survey completed. No major archeological sites/structures have been found on the site.

Dale Dowling then reviewed some of the ecological findings. (sorry I was uploading photos so didn't get all of it) The next presentation dealt with traffic, didn't catch the guy's name. I think everybody here was interested in traffic. There will be only one primary access point which will connect to SR 60. All traffic coming in/out will then head East or West on SR 60. There are no plans to extend the connector

The Taft rail yard is often mentioned as a good example of how the site will operate site. The Winter Haven facility is going to be a combo of automobile cars and traditional container cars, no tankers.

The next portion of the meeting was a request to eliminate questions about the DRI. These are things like issues with on-site wells (there are none), per-capita issues (there are no additional home units being built). Much of this was inside-baseball.

So what did we learn today? If you've been following the CSX project, then not much. Remember this was a DRI pre-application hearing, so that actual application wasn't really being debated. From what I can gather, much of it was, "Here's what we're going to submit....what do you think?"

Things will get interesting once the actual application is submitted. That will be the middle of December when the actual application will be submitted. Neil Frazee said the tentative date is December 9th. Once submitted, the application will be made available to the public.

A hearing has been scheduled for October 24th to discuss the specifics of the traffic impacts. Need to get more details on that.

Next up was comments from other agencies/cities, while this is not part of the official DRI pre-application review it was allowed today. First up was the City Manager of Lake Wales. His major concern is the traffic issues. The City of Lakeland submitted some questions but did not review them publicly. Need to see if I can get a copy of those.

Jean Reed, spoke and said her comments were her own, since she can't speak for the BOCC. She thanked the participants for bringing forth the DRI process. Also, since the project is surrounded by county residents, it will impact Polk County.

Jim Studial, City of Lakeland spoke some more on behalf of Lakeland. Jim said they would be disappointed if the DRI process did not address the increased rail traffic in the county. The project also needs to be reviewed from a comp plan perspective within the county. Although it's a Winter Haven project and within their comp plan, it impacts all of the county.

Prior to the application and public hearings, public comment can be sent to csxdri@cfrpc.org.

That was it, not much excitement. December is when the real fun begins :-)

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Yes we all know that DayJet air taxi service is now officially launched in Lakeland, but how about a real commercial airline? Sound far fetched? It might not be.

Recently SkyBus announced jet service to Punta Gorda, FL. You read that correctly, Punta Gorda. (Photo above is a SkyBus Airbus A319 in San Diego. Photo by So Cal Metro)

They're flying into Port Charlotte Airport starting Dec 5th. SkyBus COO, Ken Gile said this to the Charlotte Sun:

Punta Gorda is a great destination for our nonstop flights on full-size jets and our outrageously low fares," Gile said in a statement. "Southwest Florida is a major destination for people in Columbus and all over Ohio, and we think Charlotte County Airport will provide a very attractive alternative for travelers going to and from Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Port Charlotte and all of Southwest Florida.

SkyBus is a low-cost carrier that has a limited number of routes. You might compare them to Southwest or Airtran. SkyBus has some low fares, how low? From the Charlotte Sun article:

Skybus is offering at least 10 seats on every flight at a base price of $10, first-come, first-served. Taxes and fees add about $10 more to the price.

A more apt comparison for SkyBus is not Southwest, but EasyJet or Ryanair from Europe. Those two European carriers are ultra-low-cost like SkyBus. One way EasyJet/Ryanair can offer low fares is to use regional airports near large destinations. You don't really fly to Milan, but 'near' Milan. Of course your definition of 'near' may vary.

SkyBus is using Port Charlotte Airport to serve the Southwest Florida area. In that model, an airport like Lakeland Linder would 'serve' Tampa.

Regional airports can offer tremendous savings over traditional hubs. If you're not familiar with the industry, large airlines pay for the use of gates are major airports. Often regional municipalities will offer considerable incentives (read FREE) to bring a commercial carrier to their airport. Those savings can be passed along as lower fares.

I can't speak for the Lakeland City Commission, but I think that if a commercial carrier expressed interest in Lakeland, they'd be all ears...and open their checkbooks. Sure some major updates would have to happen to the airport, but if Punta Gorda can do it, so can Lakeland.

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The new Publix plaza under construction across from Heart of Florida Hospital now has a a Crispers sign on the marquee. The store is not listed on their locations page yet. I'll have to check a menu next time I'm in a Crispers since they always list the 'Coming Soon' stores on the back.

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The Orlando Sentinel has a large feature piece on Frostproof: Frostproof struggles with growing or disappearing.

There is no Wal-Mart or Publix here. No Chili's or Burger King. No mega subdivisions of cookie-cutter homes.

For years, Frostproof's isolation has been its shield against unwanted growth.....

....But the present has brought challenges to the heart of Florida's citrus country.

Frostproof's largest employer and utility user, the Cargill juice plant, is closing. The Police Department has disbanded. The city's only grocery store is for sale. And the 2004 hurricane season devastated the city's finances.

The Sentinel seems to have a fascination with Frostproof since it profiled the area in September of last year as well.

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It seems like so far away, but this time last year we were right in the middle of election season for county commission. On Sept 18, 2006 I attended the Tiger Bay debate in Bartow, FL. It was there that Randy Wilkinson, Robert Connors, Jean Read and Bruce Parker squared off.

What else happened in September of 2006?

- Randy had his DUI/non-DUI in Lakeland
- Cypress Gardens Filed Chapter 11

I also asked, "How Divided is Polk County?" That post seems somewhat timely given the recent battles of the CSX project. Take a look at this quote:

In politics and local issues, folks in Lakeland just don't care/worry about what happens politically or growth-wise in Winter Haven and vice versa. In the mean time, nobody seems to pay too much attention to the Four Corners area, which just happens to be the fastest growing part of the county.

People care now :-)

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If you didn't know there is an organization called the Four Corners Area Council that is working to help plan for growth of....you guessed it,the Four Corners region. Here is the web site for the organization.

The Four Corners Area Council is an organization under the umbrella of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce.

Mission Statement:
The Four Corners Area Council will be the voice to raise awareness to the needs of the fast growing community surrounding the intersection of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk Counties, otherwise known as the Four Corners. The Council will bring a sense of community, definition and consciousness to the issues faced by Four Corners residents, businesses and visitors.

Planning for growth in that area is a bit of a misnomer, it should probably be 'mopping-up after growth'.

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Billy Townsend and Lindsay Peterson have an extensive story/report concerning the CSX project. While the CSX deal has been quite the topic in the Polk County area, their report looks more from a statewide level.

Polk County has always touted themselves as being the 'center of it all' from a tourism and business development perspective, it's certainly the case in this massive commuter-rail/freight project. The report is a good overview of the years of dealings between the DOT and private railroads in developing a plan for Florida's passenger and freight rail traffic.

With more focus coming to the project, another sleeping giant may awake, Tampa.

The likely loser is the Tampa Bay area, particularly Lakeland.

Under the state's new plan, commuter rail isn't likely to come to Tampa for decades - if ever - because of CSX's plans for unlimited freight increases in the area. That freight traffic will be routed through downtown Lakeland, where local officials fear years of expensive redevelopment efforts will be ruined.

The Lakeland area has a strong ally in Tampa.

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On Friday I had lunch with Billy Townsend. Once of the topics of conversation was CSX of course. Billy's been working on a rather comprehensive CSX piece that was supposed to run today (Sunday). Billy updates us this morning that the USF student story has pushed this back.

Now we'll have to wait another week :-(

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Over at Lakeland Local, Chuck Welch has some good commentary about the Lakeland Chamber letter. Chuck brings up a few good points, one of which I'll quote below:

Please don't lump all of "Lakeland" with the Chamber.

I was going to mention this in my post about the letter. The Lakeland Area Chamber Letter stated:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors and 2,100 member businesses of the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce.

I know a few businesses in Lakeland that might not share the Chamber's views on this issue. Plus there are a few Winter Haven firms that belong to the LACC.

I think folks that worked in the transportation, commercial real estate (think warehouses) or construction might welcome things. Then again, those same folks welcome just about any development :-)

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The Tampa Bay Business Journal has news of a distribution center being built in the Haines City area.

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. plans to start work next week developing 160 acres into a distribution center with as much as 1.6 million square feet. The Chicago-based real estate investment trust has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday near the southeast corner of County Road 544 and State Road 17.

First Industrial (NYSE: FR) has prelease agreements for the first 200,000-square-foot building at FirstPark @ Haines City and is close to signing additional leases for two buildings with approximately 1 million square feet and 400,000 square feet each.

At the end of the story is this little tid-bit:

Approximately 900 distribution, service center and manufacturing jobs are expected to be created by way of the FirstPark @ Haines City development.

Wow, sounds like a lot of trucks and folks coming-and-going. I wonder who will pay for the roads and infrastructure improvements? Oh wait, we all do.

I'll expect a protest from Lakeland soon (joking there).

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The Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce recently sent a letter to Thomas Pelham, Secretary, Florida Department of Community Affairs over the CSX project. The letter is CC'd to just about every other person of importance, from Gov. Crist all the way down to Mike Herr at the county. The three-page letter is dated August 23, 2007 and is signed by LACC President, Kathleen Munson. You can download a PDF copy of the letter here.

The letter starts off with the standard....

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors and 2,100 member businesses of the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce. We respectfully request that the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) require that the proposed CSX Integrated Logistics Center (ILC) project in Winter Haven undergo a full Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Review and that the DCA decline an expedited permitting process request to make it possible for CSX to begin construction before the review can determine the impact this project will have on Polk County and the State of Florida....

The letter then cites research done by the Chamber:

Our research has confirmed that, while the project will generate a positive economic impact for Winter Haven and our county with an increase in jobs and tax benefits, it will create a major adverse impact on Lakeland and other municipalities surrounding the project with the dramatic increase in truck and rail traffic it will generate through our communities.

Now before I start to discuss details, let me state my position on the CSX project. I am for the project if it is properly planned for. Should it be a DRI? Probably, but CSX planned the initial project to fit just under the DRI limit. Things like this happen all the time. If you think that CSX is the first firm to figure out if the limit is X then just submit X-1 to bypass regulation, then you don't know development. Is CSX the best corporate citizen? I'll let you fill in the blank on that one.

However I have to point out a bit of hypocrisy on the part of Lakeland here. As I pointed out in an earlier post, there are more distribution centers that cause more truck traffic in Lakeland than the CSX facility will generate. It's interesting that suddenly truck traffic is a major issue with Lakeland.

In addition to the truck traffic, CSX also projects the ILC terminal will create 1,000 to 2,000 new jobs and that workforce will add severely to the traffic congestion.

The Phase I projection is 200 jobs, not 1000 to 2000. Billy Townsend picked up on the job 'exaggeration' some time ago. The majority of CSX's promises (jobs, economic development, etc) fall in the second phase of the project, which might never be built. However, everybody, on both sides of the issue like to point to the 'big' numbers. After all, they look better :-)

I really don't think there is anything that the DCA can do. One DCA official I talked to said that often development groups will come in just under the requirement for any project. That could be acres, units per acre, etc. That's the problem with drawing a line, it sets a boundary that can often be skirted. While the DCA enforces it, they don't set it. Our local legislators do. We all need to take it up with them.

I think if anything the CSX project has made us all look around and say, 'Hey why don't we change this?"

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I swung by the Downtown Lakeland Partnership Anti-CSX rally/protest downtown today. Photos from the rally are here.

I stopped by the tent at the corner of Main and Kentucky on three different occasions. There was a slow/steady stream of locals downtown that stopped by the tent, but never a huge crowd (The Ledger says it was 'sparse'). The largest group I saw numbered around 6 or 7 not including media (and one gorilla)

However, local turnout is only one factor. The rally drew media coverage from Channels 8, 10 and 13. The last time I stopped by, Julie Townsend from the Downtown Lakeland Partnership was doing an interview with Ken Suarez from Channel 13. Channel 13's coverage can be seen here.

Some people seemed aware of the CSX issue, others looked to be hearing about it for the first time.

During the lunch hour a group stood on the corner and held up some small signs reading, "CSX HUB" with the standard 'No' sign over it.

Julie Townsend was going to let me know how many petition signatures they collected at the end of the event. Update: Julie said that 88 people signed the petition.

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It's always interesting to read over some of the protest 'literature' that organizations put out. I know people are always passionate on both sides of any issue. It's that passion that sometimes makes people overlook some other issues that might be closer to home. The recent Downtown Lakeland Partnership protest flier states that:

CSX Projects that, to start, at least 1400 tractor trailer rigs will be in and out of the hub per day - with this number increasing as their multi-billion dollar business thrives. This means you will be competing for space on our major roadways with these behemoths of industry on Highways 98, 27, 60 and I-4 regardless of where you live in the county.

You the taxpayer - NOT CSX - will pay for the improvements and maintenance of roads and infrastructure required by the existence of the hub.

That's true, just a bit. An individual I talked to close to the deal says the true count will be closer to 700 trucks, not 1400.

But then again, looking at the Lakeland area there are these little enterprises: Rooms-to-Go Warehouse, Publix Bakery, Bernie Little Distributors, US Foodservice, FedEx LTL, Butterkrust Bakery, Saddle Creek, SunCo and Southern Wine & Spirits to name a few. I think they have quite a few tractor trailer rigs 'competing' on our local roadways....and gasp, we all pay for the road improvements needed.

Economic development is a delicate balance. We all want the benefits, but not the baggage.

There is one major difference though between CSX and the Lakeland-area companies I listed above. All of those firms and the people that run them have been outstanding corporate citizens and have helped make Lakeland what it is today. CSX does not have the reputation, at least in Polk County, of being a community leader.

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It's been interesting to follow the growing protest in Lakeland over the proposed CSX hub in Winter Haven. The Downtown Lakeland Partnership has some fliers out at businesses and recently pleaded their case to the Lakeland City Commission. There is also a protest scheduled for this Friday.

While I know the protest is well intentioned, I think there is nothing that they can really do. As I said in the title with that bad pun, the train has left the station. The recent Ledger article makes the point that the increased rail traffic is tied to the Central Florida commuter rail project just as much as it is the inter-modal facility in Winter Haven:

The massive rail transfer center CSX wants to build on more than 1,000 acres in Winter Haven is tied to another major rail project - the sale of 61 miles of CSX tracks to the Florida Department of Transportation for an Orlando commuter rail system that would serve Orange, Volusia,Seminole and Osceola counties

So unless I am wrong...even if the Winter Haven project is stopped...it will just end up someplace else. The increased rail traffic is a result of the shift of freight off the E/W line to the N/S line. This will happen with or without the Winter Haven facility. The shift has to happen for the commuter rail project to move forward.

Once you look at the commuter rail project you realize that the rail traffic issue in Lakeland is not a Lakeland vs. Winter Haven thing, it's Lakeland vs. Central Florida. While Lakeland might have more political clout than Winter Haven, they're no match for Orlando and the surrounding cities that have been moving towards the commuter rail project for almost a decade.

The Ledger states that Gow Fields asked Senator Bill Nelson about the planning of the commuter rail project and Lakeland/Polk's involvement:

Commissioner Gow Fields suggested to Nelson that the state take a more regional look at commuter rail. Plans currently do not include Lakeland. "This piecemeal approach doesn't lead us anywhere,'' Fields said.

Not really sure who is to blame here, Polk County has known that the commuter rail project has been going on for some time now, they could have joined the party years ago. However, perhaps the county has no interest.

Suddenly though, Lakeland is interested. I can hear the planners in Orlando saying, where were you a decade ago? But then again Lakeland has always somewhat aligned itself with Tampa over Orlando...it's a natural geography thing.

Things are getting interesting. Just think, this all started because Billy Townsend and I figured out that Lakeland was going to start seeing more trains in the future :-)

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Over at the Colliers Turley Martin Tucker blog, Mark Sonnenberg, SIOR, CCIM, writes about the new emergence of railroads and intermodal facilities in the commercial real-estate world:

“I’ve been working on the railroad” has returned as a familiar refrain heard across the country. America’s railroads are spending billions each year to keep up with increasing demand for hauling freight. Last year alone, U.S. freight railroads spent $8.3 billion to improve roadways and structures and equipment, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Mark talks about how the increasing use of intermodal, i.e. rail to truck and vice-versa is leading this boom in rail traffic. The growth of rail is of course tied to other economic development. It's an interesting read to see the 'real estate' side of thing.

At the end of the article Mark lists all the new intermodal facilities that are under development. The CSX/Winter Haven project is one of them.

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I think it's safe to assume that CSX's public relations firm is Fleishman Hillard. On Monday, the day the CSX/Blogging article ran, EP had quite a few visitors from Fleishman's offices.

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I'm in Washington DC for business so I wasn't able to make it to the CSX/Lakeland meeting that was held on Tuesday. Chuck Welch from Lakeland Local was there and has posted two reports. Thanks Chuck.

Billy Townsend from the Tribune also has some internal e-mails from the city of Winter Haven regarding the CSX DRI process.

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The Ledger is reporting that the Florida Department of Community Affairs has informed CSX that the proposed Winter Haven project is a DRI (development of regional impact):

In a letter to CSX on Tuesday, the state Department of Community Affairs said the facility should be considered a development of regional impact.

Developments of regional impact require review by regional planning councils and by a variety of state agencies that examine issues such as traffic, water use, endangered species and drainage. Without DRI review, only local planners would review the project.

The review process will slow the project down some, but it should continue to move forward.

On a side note, it's good to see that Winter Haven City Manager David Greene actually spoke to the press. He's quoted a number of times in the article.

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Well the announcement came today that Target will be building along with quite a few other tenants in the Posner Park area (the intersection of I-4 and 27). I heard about this a month ago but haven't posted anything since it was a friend close to the deal that gave me the details.

The development which includes: Target, Belks, J.C. Penney, Best Buy, etc sounds like the now standard format similar to Lakeside Village in Lakeland, or take your pick ( ) St. John's Village - Jacksonville, ( ) The Avenues - Vero Beach, etc.

The big question on the mind of Winter Haven residents though is, "Does this help or hurt our chances of getting a Target?"

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The Polk County Commission is on the road today to visit a CSX facility outside of Atlanta. This afternoon I was talking with a friend about this 'roadtrip'. I wondered if they were flying or driving, they're driving. Next question, carpooling? And how do they decide who rides with who? I'm not sure I could stand a 7-hour trip in the car with Randy :-)

However, if the commissioners are riding together, my friend classified it as, "One giant rolling illegal public meeting."

Tom Palmer from The Ledger is making the trip, so perhaps he'll blog about it.

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Update: This morning's paper has an expanded version of the story.

Billy has been blogging/reporting about it for a while, but the Lakeland Ledger (and the rest of the city of Lakeland) have finally noticed the CSX deal. From the article posted this afternoon:

...the CSX project is expected to double the number of trains running through downtown Lakeland - a byproduct that could put a damper on the city’s multimillion-dollar downtown residential push.

Concerned about what effect more trains will have on businesses and budding housing, representatives from Lakeland, the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce and Lakeland Economic Development Council are scheduled to meet April 19 with CSX to discuss the project.

The meeting, which will not include elected officials, is not open to the public

Funny comparison. You have the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce being very open/transparent about the project, even inviting commentary, while the Lakeland Chamber and LEDC aren't meeting in public :-)

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Billy Townsend has a post up digging deeper into some of the major numbers associated with the CSX project. He's looking at three things: Jobs, Truck Traffic and Rail Traffic.

First off, are the jobs numbers inflated, or more specifically do they not accurately reflect the direct impact of the project? If you want to see a copy of the CSX job projections click here.

But that number – 8,500—requires quite a bit of context. As CSX’s projections make clear, the 300-acre train-to-truck yard, which makes up the first phase of the project, will employ 200 people when it’s built, likely in 2009. Another 1,800 jobs are projected for the 900-acre second phase, which will consist mostly of warehouse and office space operated by companies that rent from CSX. That’s it for direct employment at the center.

If you’re counting, that brings us to 2,000 mostly warehouse jobs. That would make the CSX center a top-15 Polk employer, but not the giant suggested by 8,500 jobs.

So where are the other 6,500 jobs?

They are far more theoretical. CSX labels them as “employment outside the park.” They are either employees of suppliers for companies located in the park, or “employees whose work depends on income generated directly or indirectly at the park.” CSX uses restaurant and convenience store workers as examples of that second group

Next up is traffic, both truck and rail. Since this is an intermodal facility there will be a great deal of trucking going into and out of the facility. There are traffic impact numbers for Hwy. 60, but no other roads.

They were not required to – and didn’t – project impact on U.S. 27 or U.S. 98 (Bartow Road). Those two highways are virtually the only logical way for a truck to get from S.R. 60 to the Polk Parkway or Interstate 4. Several stretches of U.S. 98 are considered failing today.

That 1,150 does not include the traffic that would be generated by the second, more warehouse-intensive phase of the project.

Finally rail traffic. If you remember from yesterday's post, the E/W rail corridor from Lakeland to Auburndale might see an increase in rail traffic, how much? Nobody knows.

Nowhere in the project or development files could I find a detailed projection of train traffic. No one I’ve talked to about this, from CSX officials to Lakeland officials to Pete Chichetto, who is shepherding the project for the city of Winter Haven, has been able to lay out the train traffic impact on central Lakeland, which appears to be on the main approach line to the center, or even to the center itself.

In the next few weeks we should hopefully see some of these answers come to light.

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This morning I ran into Colleen Burton with Polk Vision, we talked briefly about where PV's been and the ongoing support/promotion of the program.

We talked for a little over 17 minutes, but my recorder died at 16:35, so you don't miss much at the very end. You can download/listen to the MP3 file by clicking here: PolkVision.MP3.

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For those of us that travel U.S. 27 north of Haines City you might have noticed a new Publix being built. The new store will be located across the street from Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center (caution bad web site ahead).

From the size of the parcel it looks like the Publix will anchor a shopping center with some other stores. Once things get built out a bit further I'll snap some pictures.

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I've been in Las Vegas for a bit attending a conference, but I'm back in Polk County now. Over the next few weeks I plan on catching up on all the details surrounding the two biggest projects in Polk County. The CSX facility and the Heartland Parkway.

One is coming, CSX, the other is being seriously planned. In today's Ledger there is a recap of the CSX project. For Heartland Parkway news, it seems that Billy Townsend from the Tampa Trib is on top of that.

For purely selfish reasons I like the ideas around both the projects. 1. My son is a huge train fan and the thought of lots of 'train action' is a plus. 2. As a frequent traveler outside the county a new road that speeds my trips is always welcome.

Currently I mostly travel to the destinations outside of Polk County that require trips north on U.S. 27 or south to the Fort Myers/Sarasota area. In each case traffic and stoplights on those routes are becoming a huge issue. U.S. 27 is a nightmare, and will only get worse. Yes, the widening of the road has been an improvement, but there will always be more lights and cars. A limited access road that directly connects the eastern part of the county to other major roads will be great.

However, just like we're seeing with the Polk Parkway, growth will follow that new corridor. For a great example, just look at the 417 in Orlando. It's an interesting way to plan/control growth. Just build the road and the growth will follow...sometimes leaving other areas alone.

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Today is link to the Winter Haven Chamber Blog day......

A recent post about the proposed CSX project has generated quite a bit of discussion, 24 comments as of this post. Some of the comments are for, and some are against the project. That's to be expected since it is a big project with pros and cons. What's unique is the venue of this discussion, the chamber blog.

You could expect the chamber blog to be a bit biased towards the economic benefit of the project, and Bob is open and honest about this. However it's been interesting to watch the dialogue between the folks commenting.

The CSX deal is the biggest thing to happen in WH from a growth standpoint in a while and is bound to generate plenty of heated debate for a while.

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Flying back from Houston, TX last night, our final approach brought us right over Polk County. I snapped this shot of U.S. 27 just north of Interstate 4. The whitish lights at the bottom of the photo are the warehouse and gas station on Deen Still Rd.

It's interesting to see how the majority of the developments are on the west side of the road until you get to Polo Park.

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Why do I sense a trend here. The Winter Haven Chamber blog reports something, then the next day the traditional media has a story.

Message to the business reporters covering the Winter Haven area....Bob Gernert and the chamber blog are eating your lunch.

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Over at the Polk County News Blog Billy writes about the Heartland Parkway. What's that you say? It's a road that will connect Fort Myers to Polk County. The northernmost part would of course be in Polk.

It would be a sort of Super Polk Parkway - linking the existing Parkway in Lakeland to State Road 60 east of Bartow and Interstate 4 east of U.S. 27.

It amounts to a huge loop - 45 miles or more - around most of the populated areas of Polk County, which would also, in theory, tie-in to the CSX distribution center the city of Winter Haven is pursuing.

One theory is managing growth is that you build the roads and the development will follow. This is similar to the 417 Greenway in Orlando. I remember when it was first built and it was nothing but empty land to the airport. Today it's surrounded by growth. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? You decide.

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Over at the Winter Haven Chamber blog, Bob talks about a new shopping center. He asks what store the folks want.

In the comments there is one clear winner: Target. Lakeland has two, we have none.

A while back I wrote about Target nixing plans for Winter Haven because there will soon be two Wal-Mart Supercenters in the area.

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Bond rating service Fitch, has rated the City of Winter Haven's 2007 series bonds an A+. That's good news I guess :-)

Fitch has assigned an 'A+' rating to Winter Haven's $23 million public improvement refunding revenue bonds, series 2007. The city's financial position is healthy due to sound financial management and strong growth in property tax revenue receipts, Fitch said.

According to unaudited financial results for fiscal 2006, a nominal operating surplus increased the unreserved general fund balance to $6.1 million, "equal to a strong 21.8 percent of general fund spending and transfers," the rating agency said in a release.

While the city is still lagging behind Lakeland in infrastructure, you can't spend what you don't have.

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Growth. Three interesting items related to growth.

First up is the MyRegion.org How Shall We Grow? initiative. Over the past year and a half the How Shall We Grow? initiative has been conducting community input sessions and working with local officials through-out the region. All that work culminates in a series of events over the next two weeks. This week a series of documentaries will air on WMFE-TV in Orlando and PG-TV in Polk County. Then starting on Friday residents will be able to vote on the growth plan they want.

You can also check out the PG-TV schedule for this week.

Second, independent of MyRegion.org, Polk Vision is holding a series of meetings on growth in the region:

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 6-8pm - Lake Region High School, Eagle Lake
Thursday, January 25, 2007 6-8 pm - Ridge Community High School, Haines City
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 6-8 pm - Lake Gibson High School, North Lakeland

I will be out of town each of these nights so I won't be able to post any reports. Hopefully Chuck from Lakeland Local will be able to make it to at least one of them.

Third, and not least in any way....Billy Townsend from the Tampa Tribune recently wrote a feature article about growth in Lakeland titled From Our Town to Boomtown. The article and accompanying video is worth the time.

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Over at the Winter Haven Chamber Blog, Bob Gernert comments on the feasibility of a development moratorium. Like Bob, I agree that a ban on development is a very bad idea.

No offense to Fort Meade, but look at that town. There is very little development going on and the town is suffering because of it. What is the economic outlook of Fort Meade? Any major businesses looking to move there? Any additional tax base to improve infrastructure? Nope.

Fort Meade has been begging for a Publix for years, they even rolled out the red carpet when Clayton Hollis made an appearance at an event a few years ago. Does Publix have a plan to open a location in Fort Meade? Not that I've heard.

I don't mean to rail on Fort Meade too much, it is a quaint little place with some great small-town charm, but maintaining a standard of care for the infrastructure is difficult when funds are limited. If you want to see what no economic growth will do to a community visit Fort Meade.

Placing a moratorium on growth is like a business saying they're not accepting any new clients. Sounds like a good idea at the time, but then you slowly watch your opportunities dry up.

There is another major issue, when you ban growth you can't control it. What I mean by this is that if we ban growth in a city like Winter Haven what is stopping a developer from going outside the city limits and building there? Nothing. Now we begin to get squeezed from the outside-in.

On the flip side unbridled growth is not the answer either, just look at the Four Corners. In that case the county has not been able to keep the infrastructure up to speed with the development. As more and more land is developed it becomes harder (and more expensive) to purchase lands for public use. Just ask the school board about that.

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The Orlando Sentinel has a feature article about the area between Orlando and Tampa. Know where that is? Middle of Somewhere is the title of the article. here is one stat that I think we all know/deal with.

Polk County alone, which sits squarely between the two largest cities, could gain as many as 240,000 people in the next 25 years, University of Florida researchers say. That's the equivalent of plopping all of Jersey City, N.J., into the county.

If you live-in/care-about Polk County, you should go read the entire article.