BARTOW, Fla. — Bartow is quaint with the charm of small-town America.
“Small town feel. There are historic homes downtown. The downtown historic area is super cute, just welcoming,” said Marie Carvajal.
Some long-time residents like Carvajal want Bartow to stay that way.
“Recently in the last five years off the top of my head, there has been three new developments in Bartow. Traffic has significantly increased. Our infrastructure just simply can't handle it anymore,” Carvajal said.
Carvajal is concerned that roads and schools are not keeping up with residential growth.
She is against a proposed development, called Emilie at Bartow, that would build 2,245 homes along SR 60. That’s why she started a Change.org petition to stop the community from being approved. It has garnered nearly 1,000 signatures so far.
“I just feel like the city doesn’t need to add more development and collect these taxes that we’re paying as residents and these impact fees when they haven't addressed the current city issues,” Carvajal said.
“We don't want to make mistakes. We want to be good stewards, good neighbors,” said David Waronker, owner of CBD Real Estate.
The developer CBD Real Estate has already conducted a traffic study and road infrastructure is being planned, including two bridges on each side of the development.
“We’re going to be putting traffic signalization on highway 60, turning lanes, deceleration lanes; probably about $6 million in off site improvements,” Waronker said.
City leaders will make a decision on whether to approve the project in the coming months. Carvajal hopes they will consider every voice.
“To know that other people feel this way as well and we want to fight for our small town,” Carvajal said.
ABC Action News got your voice on the top issues for Florida lawmakers this legislative session.
