Local Florida officials who enabled developers and businesses fight back against CSX.

[madfloridian]

And they could easily lose.

These are the same folks who have enabled big business and its voice in our area....putting development above common sense. Now they are getting bitten in the you know what by a company that is steamrolling two cities and a large group of homes. And they are finding that they might not be able to win, that CSX will put terminals and tracks in the way of the downtown development they prize.....the development for which they condemned poor neighborhoods.

I guess what goes around comes around. CSX is not listening to their pleas.

Ready To Battle CSX Railroad

Get ready for "Fight the Freight" or "Don't Railroad Us" buttons. Both slogans were suggested during Wednesday's Downtown Lakeland Partnership meeting as a way of derailing CSX's intentions.

Residents from Sundance Ranch Estates, who are fighting to keep CSX out of their backyards, shared their fears that a proposed rail transfer center on 1,000 acres in Winter Haven would destroy their way of life and put more truck traffic on main arteries like State Road 60 and U.S. 98.

For those unfamiliar with the growing grass-roots movement, the combination of the rail transfer center and a shift in freight train traffic is expected to bring more trains through downtown Lakeland. The prospect has business owners worried about their livelihoods, fewer tourists and the impact of frequent vibrations on historic buildings.

..."Furr, a former city commissioner who has spearheaded the push for downtown residential development, was uncharacteristically terse regarding CSX. She said CSX sees the downtown dilemma from the perspective of it owning the tracks and Lakeland building around them.

"CSX is arrogant in my personal view," Furr said.

She is right about this being a real problem for this area. I agree. But we have for so long, so many of us pleaded and begged with this group and with commissioners to regulate the rate of development. They did not care to do so, it brought big money....the more developing the better.

Now they are fighting the CSX machine, and I doubt they will win.

There is a very old home which has been in the same family for years which will also be a victim of CSX. 159 years old.



WINTER HAVEN - The Atkins family is proud of its heritage and deep roots in Polk County.

A visit to the family homestead is a trip back in time.

The oldest home is a beige two-story house built in 1850, and at one time it was the only house between Winter Haven and Bartow. It is filled with beautiful old furniture, and black and white family pictures line the walls.

State tells CSX they can start building before any reviews are done.

WINTER HAVEN - State planning officials have told CSX it can begin building a rail transfer center before planning reviews of the massive project are completed. In a letter sent to CSX this week, the state Department of Community Affairs said it would consider an agreement with the company that would allow CSX to begin construction on the Winter Haven project while a comprehensive planning review known as a development of regional impact is under way."

In any case, CSX has a back-up site in Sumter County north of our area. But they don't like as well as Central Florida.

CSX Has Backup Site for Center

WINTER HAVEN - If the deal for a CSX rail yard fails in Winter Haven, the Jacksonville-based railroad company has a backup location close to two major highways. In 2005, the company purchased 690 acres for $9.2 million south of Wildwood near Interstate 75 and the Florida's Turnpike in Sumter County, about 65 miles north of Winter Haven.

While it looks like a good site for a rail transfer center because of its easy highway access to Orlando and Tampa, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said Wednesday the company has no plans to build in Sumter County.

"It does not meet our needs," Sease said. "We need a location more central for any future development."

I wish our commissioners and downtown development folks good luck on this fight, as it will change the quality of life in some areas.