The Bartow City Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve the annexation and rezoning for a controversial development called Emilie Springs east of the city along the Peace Creek Drainage Canal.
Commissioners made a point of telling the audience that Monday’s vote does not guarantee final approval when the issue returns to them early next year after state review.
Monday’s hearing was pretty much a replay of the arguments pro and con that occurred at last month’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
Rural residents on Gerber Dairy Road argued the proposed densities would be incompatible with their lifestyle.
Bartow residents raised issues about flooding, school capacity, the housing glut and mortgage crisis and just how much the addition of thousands of homes will affect the city’s small-town atmosphere.
Consultants representing the developer dismissed most of those concerns, arguing all of those issues will have to be addressed before home construction can begin.
The project came to the city after previously being denied by the County Commission, which typically does not say no to many development projects.