Planning board delays decision on Rec Room 'barcade' expansion after neighbors raise noise and policing concerns

The Lakeland Planning and Zoning Board on Jan. 22 continued consideration of a major modification that would expand the Rec Room bar-and-arcade at 202 North Massachusetts Avenue downtown, citing outstanding questions about noise impacts, police service records and the parking garage adjacent to the site. The board set the continuation for its Feb. 18 meeting.

Todd Vargo, senior planner with Community and Economic Development, presented the request for a major modification of an existing conditional use to expand the Rec Room into an additional roughly 3,000 square feet of the building, bringing the operation’s total footprint and assembly areas to approximately 4,000 square feet after expansion. Vargo reviewed land-development-code criteria the board must consider for bars and similar uses, and noted the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority provided a unanimous letter of support on Aug. 15, 2024.

Vargo told the board that, for a two-year window covering December 2022 to December 2024, the Rec Room had 62 service entries in the city’s records — the most…