First Tuscany Preserve, now Hatchineha Lakes, developers of a proposed city-sized development are hatching a plan for a large upscale, retirement community on Lake Hatchineha. The developers, however, still have work to do to see their project for a 4,900-unit community they are calling Hatchineha Lakes.
The plan is for a 5,134-acre ranch to be located on the southern-most side of Village 7, near Tuscany Preserve, with homes on one-acre lots with an expected population of 12,300. The site, 2,162 acres of which is wetlands, is adjacent to 8,077-acre Allen D. Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve. It is also near an extensive network of conservation lands owned and managed by the South Florida Water Management District and the Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve in Poinciana. Among the conditions recommended in the development order:
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Require the developer to set aside land for a park, a fire and ambulance station and a Polk County Sheriff's Office substation.
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Start a shuttle bus service for residents to shopping.
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Widen sections of Hatchineha Road, Poinciana Parkway and Marigold Avenue.
Improve intersections in Poinciana.
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Develop a plan to deal with the project's impact on our beloved Sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, bald eagles, fox squirrels, Southeastern American kestrels
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Obtain necessary permits from state and federal wildlife officials.
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Require water-conservation measures in construction and landscaping in the project.
Project reporters say the development is targeted to retirees and that traffic impacts would be controllable. The increase in traffic, however, will likely affect Poinciana, which already has issues due to rapid growth of the community between 2001 and 2006. Read more.
