The controversial Fort Meade hyperscale data center seems to have a number of hurdles to overcome before any development occurs, according to city documents dating to the initial Planning and Zoning Board hearing last May.
It is also clear that some of the criticisms may be a bit off base.
Here goes.
Many people understand this, but it is worth repeating is that the only thing before the City Commission at the moment is a development agreement, which lays out the city’s and the developer’s obligations. It is not a development approval.
In fact, the development agreement lays out a bunch of steps the developer will have to satisfy before the city will consider giving the project the go-ahead.
This may take some time.
One big issue that was not discussed at the recent hearings was the developer’s ability to gain access to the property for construction and employee traffic.
That requires crossing an active CSX rail line.
As Polk County learned when it was building Ernie Caldwell Boulevard, CSX does not allow at-grade crossings anymore and its required review of any plans for a highway overpass does not take place quickly and increases the cost of the project substantially.
Then there is the suitability of the land itself.
The staff report for the Planning and Zoning Board hearing stated, “the subject site and surrounding properties are not suitable for residential development due to the condition of the soils.”
One of the conditions for zoning approval is that the developer will have to submit a geotechnical study to document that the previously mined land is stable enough for building a 4.4 million-square-foot complex and related infrastructure.
That was contained in the approval for the planned-unit development designation for the property last year.
Although there was criticism that the city has no provision for industrial PUDs in its development code, the planners got around that by calling it a public facility.
Also, it is worth pointing out that without the PUD designation, the city would have been unable to impose conditions for approval on the project.
This was smart planning.
Nevertheless, there are still some issues to be worked out.
One is the 1.2 gigawatts of power the data center will require. If that number sounds familiar it’s about the same amount of nuclear power required to make the DeLorean work in “Back to the Future.”
The question is what it will take for Duke Energy’s nearby Hines Energy Complex to supply the load and at whose expense. The developer claims to be willing to pay for it, but critics are skeptical some of the costs won’t be passed on to other customers.
Then there is the question of what kinds of hazardous chemicals will be mixed with the cooling water or other aspects of the project and what happens if there is a spill and whether some of those chemicals will end up at the city’s sewer plant and whether the plant is equipped to handle it.
The amount of water the developer claims the data center will use does not seem to be excessive, but we’ll see.
Finally, there is a question of what kind of noise–audible or subsonic–the data center will emit and how that will affect nearby homeowners and the community in general. How much different will it be from the thrum of traffic noise on US 17/98 will probably be a talking point.
Stay tuned.

What was originally billed as a planned vote on a development agreement to advance the proposed data center in an industrial park on Fort Meade’s north side turned into a further delay on any decision Tuesday night.
What changed was a decision by city staff to make the vote the first reading of an ordinance, which requires no vote, instead of a resolution, which does.
That means the vote will not occur until April 14 at the soonest.
The development agreement lays out some actions Stonebridge, the site’s developer, and the city must take in preparation for the project to undergo further review for potential development approval.
There has been widespread opposition to the project, which forced city officials to move the meeting from City Hall to the Community Center to accommodate a roomful of critics.
Speaker after speaker listed concerns about the project’s effects on the water supply. the general environment and their quality of life.
They mentioned the potential for hazardous chemical spills, the noise the center and its backup generators will create and the lack of baseline data to track the project’s environmental effects.
Some speakers suggested that commissioners visit an existing data center to find out how it affects nearby property owners and residents before they vote.
Ancient Islands Sierra has not taken a formal position on the data center, but Chair Tom Palmer urged commissioners to consider the noise and pollution issues, whether sewage from the site will have to be pretreated for hazardous chemicals and the effects of light pollution on the nearby section of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

The foolishness in Tallahassee over slashing property taxes and the financial realities of suburban sprawl combined to result in a 5-0 defeat of the proposed Emile Springs development along the Peace Creek’s floodplain east of Bartow Monday night.
The proposal involved a plan to build 2,245 homes on farmland about five miles east of downtown Bartow along the floodplain of Peace Creek.
Representatives of the landowner talked about property tax revenue, nature trails, towering buffers to block the view of the densely-packed homes on land outside the floodplain from adjacent rural homesteads and tentative pledges that utilities and school capacity were adequate.
A roomful of residents disagreed, arguing the leapfrog city-sized development was at odds with the city’s small town atmosphere.
In rebuttal, Lakeland developer George Lindsey argued that if the development complies with the city’s growth plan, commissioners have no choice but to approve it.
Commissioners quickly disposed of that argument by refusing to annex the eastern portion of the property, making any consideration of its land use and zoning moot.
Commissioner Trish Pfeiffer said growth must match the fiscal reality and trying to cram the equivalent of Fort Meade into an enclave at the edge of town was a poor match.
She cited moves in Tallahassee to slash local property taxes and impose other financial restraints on local government and the well-known fact that residential development doesn’t generate enough tax revenue to cover the cost of providing services as reason enough for her opposition.
Other commissioners agreed, adding they were uncomfortable approving a residential development that close to Bartow Municipal Airport.
Commissioners also denied the request to rezone the property that was already in the city from industrial to residential, derailing plans for the rest of the development.

Earlier this week Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, serving as the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund, approved the purchase of conservation easements on ranches in Hardee and Highlands counties.
The Square One Ranch in Highlands County covers 1,500 acres. It is a cattle ranch. Among the species reportedly present on the site are Eastern Indigo Snake, Florida Scrub Jay, Crested Caracara and Gopher Tortoise.
The 1,300-acrte Buckhorn Ranch lies in the Charlie Creek Basin in Hardee County. Charlie Creek is a tributary of the Peace River. This is the latest in a series of acquisitions in the basin
Protection of both parcels will prevent conversion to urban and suburban sprawl as development pressures increase in the area.
Wilton Simpson, Florida secretary of agriculture and consumer services, was quoted in a press release as saying the ranches are worth $11.4 million.
Funding comes from the Rural and Family Lands Program, which is intended to provide easements on working lands and in recent years has received the bulk of state land conservation funding while the Florida Forever program, which purchases higher quality environmental lands outright, has received minimal funding.
That comes despite the approval of constitutional amendment to increase funding for the Florida Forever program.
Implementation of that voter mandate has been repeatedly stymied by state officials.

The freezing weather is over, the sun is shining and the outdoors await.
There are two great events this weekend.
The biggest one is the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is a major mid-winter bird survey that occurs Feb. 13-16 and has become a global event.
Survey birds in your backyard or anywhere else and enter the data in ebird.
If you do not have an account, set up one. It’s free.
The site allows you to post photos, too.
Meanwhile, during the same weekend, Florida state parks are offering free admission in honor of George Washington’s birthday.
Find your park and plan your visit at FloridaStateParks.org. To learn more about Florida’s role in America’s 250th anniversary, visit America250FL.com.

Florida Scrub Lizards are part of site’s diverse flora and fauna

Creek Ranch, which was once proposed for development and purchased by the state in 2024, is now open to the public.
The 1,342-acre site on Hatchineha Road is called Creek Ranch Public Small Game Hunting Area.
The opening follows a public meeting on the property’s management plan, which was held last March.
Except for a couple of weekends in January and February when family hunts are scheduled, the site is open daily for day-use.
Visitors can access the property on foot, by bicycle or on horseback.
The property contains a mosaic of habitats including scrubby flatwoods, oak hammocks , wetlands and improved pasture.
The site lies within a statewide wildlife corridor and its preservation as a public conservation area complements early state, federal and private acquisitions in the area,
Nearby conservation areas include the Hatchineha Unit of the Everglades Headwaters Wildlife Management Area, Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park, Lake Marion Creek Wildlife Management Area and Hatchineha Ranch.

John Bohde discusses plans to four-lane Power Line Road at recent work session

You have to give the folks behind the eastern leg of the Central Polk Parkway, which is proposed to follow a route along the boundary of conservation lands in the Marion Creek basin and some long-standing rural homesteads, some credit for optimism.
The general route seems to be approved, but there is no money available yet for design, right of way purchases and construction, so whether the bulldozers will begin moving to clear the 286-foot-wide path for the road–a width roughly equal to the length of a football field.–in many our lifetimes is unknown.
Nevertheless, the road folks have posed a questionnaire on their website asking the public to suggest a name for the proposed road.
Boondoggle Boulevard seems apt, but unlikely to be considered, but there’s no harm in chiming in.
Meanwhile, there is some good news of sorts on the urban sprawlway front out there.
Polk officials agreed at a recent work session to at least for now scrap plans to extend Power Line Road southward towards Dundee.
Instead they want to use the grant money they received from the Florida Legislature for that project and repurpose it to four-lane the existing route of Power Line Road instead.
They have tentative OK from local legislators for the shift. commissioners were told during a presentation conducted by Deputy County Manager John Bohde.