Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

101 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 GROVELAND , FLOR IDA for more trails and parks, and its primary goal is keeping 50% of the area naturally intact. Currently, the city is partnering with the county for the South Lake Regional Park, which aims to have 140 acres of land under its banner. The park’s development is tied to the strategic goal of bringing more tourism to the area. “Groveland has adopted an all-new future land use element and a community development code, with walkability being the foundation for the whole policy and code update,” says Tim Maslow, Community and Economic Development Department Director for Groveland. Groveland is currently composed of a collection of communities that are dispersed far apart. The city has 34,000 acres of a utility service area at its disposal, along with loads more open space. The city is surrounded by nature preserves. One area of critical concern is to the south of the city, under state road 50, and is called the Green Swamp. To the north of Groveland, the Palatlakaha River is another and there are three different natural green belt areas within the city limits. The city is involved in a large project called the Coast to Coast Trail, which will go through the city, boosting ecotourism in the region by bringing tourists from both coasts. The city is located in the middle of the state of Florida. Turnpike 75, 27, and 50 either go through Groveland or are within a 15-minute drive, so accessing it is easy. Bearing in mind the primary goal of driving tourism to Groveland, the mixture of agriculture and ecotourism in the region will push to the forefront the eco- agrarian lifestyle, which is about preserving farmland while still providing economic opportunities for locals. The city’s downtown region has been designed to be one of its most walkable areas within Groveland, but the hills hamper the score for walkability, so guests are recommended to put on some comfortable walking shoes. Since 1959, we at Lake Apopka Natural Gas District (LANGD) have provided safe, reliable, and cost-saving natural gas to a customer base that has expanded to over 28,000, and we have grown by an incredible 38.5% over the past five years, making us the fourth-fastest growing municipally owned natural gas system in Florida. None of that would be possible without the tremendous support from our valued customers in Groveland and surrounding areas. Together, our commercial and residential customers enjoy and rely on the unmatched benefits of natural gas, including its versatility, reliability, and cost-saving capabilities. With so much anticipated growth on the horizon within our service territory, we’ve recently formed a committee to create a Five-Year Strategic Growth Plan to expand our distribution system and meet future development needs. We’ve already started extending our lines on State Route 19 to State Route 50 and Villa City Road to Simon Brown Road. If you’d like to be a part of Lake Apopka Natural Gas District’s LANGD tremendous growth and are interested in making the switch to enjoy natural gas, contact our marketing team at (407) 656-2734 x307 or marketing@langd. org, or visit www.langd.org for more information on our natural gas services. 1320 Winter Garden-Vineland Road Winter Garden, FL 34787 P: 407.656.2734 F: 407.877.3893 www.LANGD.org