Winter Haven, Florida

inside the city.Andwherever the cityprovides water to properties,we usuallyannex those prior to,or in concert with,newdevelopment.We have two planned developments,right now,that are of significant scale: one of them is calledHarmony–it’s about 350 acres with 1,400 units of housing coming.There’s another project of similar scale that is going to be about the same acreage and that’s beingmaster-planned for about 1,100 units of housing.And both of those are inside the city limits.” HarmonyWinter Havenwill be the secondHarmony development in Central Florida.The first,in nearby Osceola County,is a 11,030-acre,master planned com- munity that features 70 percent open spaces,including nearly1,000 acres of natural lakes.The community also includes numerous playgrounds and community parks; an interconnected bikewayand pedestrian path system; aTown Center providing amixof uses for the entire community; onsitewater andwastewater facilities; largewetland preserves; upland preservation areas for gopher tortoises,sand hill cranes,and rare plant species; an interconnectedwater management system; and awastewater reuse system tominimize consumption. “Harmony inOsceola County ismuch larger than what wewill have inWinter Haven,but the same premisewill exist in this site,”saysWorthington.“It will be amixture of town homes and single familyhomes and a couple of estate homes.There is onlyone home that exists on the current propertyand that will be converted into an event and community facility.They hope to be in salesmode by the end of this year and under construction by the beginning of next year.It’s a reallyexciting project.The developer,JimLentz,is working verycloselywith our city’s natural resource division to figure out howhe canmaximize the green A trusted partner experienced in planning, design, permitting, and full construction phase services. Let AVCON assist in Transforming Today’s Ideas into Tomorrow’s Reality. Orlando, FL • avconinc.com • 407.599.1122 Winter Haven Municipal Airport - Gilbert Field WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA initiatives,including,but not limited to,solar roof tiles, ‘dark’lighting that minimizes light pollution and its ef- fect on the environment,different types of boardwalks and greenways through our ecosystem,as well as maintaining the lake front.He’s not planning on build- ingMcMansions along the lakefront; he’s planning on keeping that as communal neighborhood space.It’s the onlyundeveloped part of Lake Eloise,which is one of our largest lakes.It will be eight neighborhoods built out over the course of ten years.” “He’s partneringwith the city to allowinstallation of conduit when he tears up roads,so that we can install fiber optic cable through his development,”Lyon adds. “And he has a goal of net zerowater consumption.That means that peoplewill conserve asmuch as possible and capture asmuch rainwater as possible to offset their actual consumption.” Finally,the fourth pillar inWinter Haven’s collabora- tive efforts concerns promulgating smart regulations and having all the stakeholders working in lockstep to create the type of business environment that will en- sure continued growth and prosperity.“The entire com- munity is reallyexcited about its future,”says Lyon,in conclusion.“The Intermodal Logistics Center was about a $150million CSX investment that will see hundreds of millionsmore invested over the years; LEGOLAND Florida transformed a defunct theme park that is now driving a robust tourism industry; the downtown is thriving; the airport is doing better and better.There’s an excitement about the future that runs through the community.” It appears thatWinter Haven,Florida is the“engine that could.” PREFERRED VENDORS n Pennoni Associates Inc. www.pennoni.com Pennoni Associates Inc.provides engineering and design consulting services to local,state,and federal government clients,as well as private, commercial,industrial,construction,and other professional firms.Its services include construction,energyand sustainability,environmental services,fabrication inspection,geotechnical services,laboratorymaterials testing,land development,landscape architecture,municipal services, planning,structural services,surveyand geomatics,transportation,and water/wastewater services. n AVCON Inc. www.avconinc.com