Several residents urged the City Commission of the City of Lake Wales to oppose rezoning or annexation that would allow large new housing developments, while commissioners and the city attorney discussed options for phasing commercial/industrial development before residential construction.

Dr. Trina Feliz Yalgavides, a Polk County physician, urged commissioners to protect the land, citing religious stewardship and the long-term wellbeing of the community. She said leaders “must place the long term good of the community above the short term gains of the few.”

Conservation biologist Lena Stemley spoke specifically about the Stoneridge proposal and other developments she opposed. “These areas total up to 1,500 acres, and Stoneridge is 1,300 acres and, again, is very important to the Florida Greenways network,” Stemley said. She raised habitat concerns for species including the gopher tortoise and sandhill cranes, said much of the property is wetlands or floodplain, and warned new homeowners may not appreciate flood risks.

On the agenda, Ordinance 2025-14 — a first reading to annex roughly 0.25 acres east of Capps Road — drew a short exchange about septic systems. One commissioner asked whether the neighboring county development “is anticipated to have septic tanks?” City staff responded that the neighboring county parcel would have septic systems but that the quarter-acre parcel before the commission would not itself be developed immediately; annexation would make that parcel contiguous so the larger project subject to an annexation agreement could proceed later.

City Attorney Mark (last name reported only as the city attorney in the meeting) advised commissioners that strict zoning requirements that would force, for example, a fixed percentage of industrial development before residential construction would be difficult to write into the city code. He said, however, that those kinds of phasing commitments can be made contractually through a master development plan or an annexation agreement if the developer agrees. “Although it's possible to use the contractual agreement to do it, I think it would not be prudent to make it forceful in the Lake Wales code of ordinances,” he said. He added that if a developer agrees to phasing in a development plan, “then you can do that” and it is enforceable as a contractual condition.

No rezoning or second-reading approvals were performed for the larger Stoneridge or other development projects at this meeting. The annexation ordinance 2025-14 passed its first reading and will return for the second reading in at least 60 days under the standard ordinance process.