Dear Editor:
I received on July 11 the latest Walden Lake newsletter. I could not believe what the president of the Walden Lake Community Association, Bob Hunter, wrote. The article has a lot of one-sided information.
As president, he should remain neutral and not be taking a stance for or against any issue of this importance unless he has asked the 2,241 homeowners what direction they want him to take.
The majority vote that Hunter mentioned to join the lawsuit was 5-4, and three of the five board members live in Forest Club and are active in the existing lawsuit. To me, this seems like a conflict of interest for these three board members.
These five people on the board now have put every Walden Lake resident into a potential risky financial obligation by joining the lawsuit. The WLCA’s only responsibility per their bylaws is to maintain the common areas.
If any board member is against rezoning that is their personal right. However, their job on the board is to represent 30 individual associations not just two or three.
The following are points that Bob stated in the newsletter:
1. There will be 156 apartment units, multi-family, up to three stories high. Nowhere has apartments or three stories ever been mentioned or requested. The recent report the Hillsborough County Planning Commission just completed does not indicate anywhere there are apartments or any building that will be three stories high.
2. There will be just a 30-foot setback backing up to the golf course, and some houses may be two stories. The houses today that are on the golf course in existing associations only require a 30-foot setback. This is not new. Today we also have two-story houses throughout Walden Lake in several associations.
3. The assisted care living facility will be three stories high. The planned assisted living facility will not have nurses or doctors on site. The people living in this facility can take care of themselves. Again, there are no plans of it being a three-story building.
I do agree with what the Hillsborough Planning Commission stated in their report. I also feel the 75-foot wide lots are too small for the development they will be next to. I also agree that the assisted living facility is not at a good location next to residential homes. However, I have stated several times, let the planning commission and the City of Plant City commissioners do their jobs, and let them decide what is best for Plant City and Walden Lake.
Bill Griffin
Walden Lake resident
Plant City