Zoning and Future Land‑Use Changes Approved for Hunts Bros Road and Hickory Ridge
by James Coulter
Two planned developments, totaling 164 acres and 7 acres, moved closer to adding new housing in Lake Wales after city commissioners approved changes to zoning and future land‑use designations.
At their regular meeting earlier this month, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to approve several ordinances involving annexation, zoning, and future land‑use changes for two planned residential developments.
The first set of ordinances concerned the Hunts Bros residential planned development permit (PDP), annexing 164 acres into the city limits and assigning the property a Medium Density future land‑use designation and Residential zoning.
The second set applied to the Hickory Ridge Subdivision, updating the future land use for 47 acres to Low-Density Residential and changing the zoning to Residential.
The Hunts Bros. development is planned for 164 acres east of Hunt Brothers Road, about a half‑mile south of State Road 60 and just south of Walmart.
The project includes a mix of housing types and uses: 366 single‑family lots, 80 townhomes, and 276 multifamily units, along with neighborhood parks and amenities, a mini‑storage facility, and a future commercial outparcel.
City commissioners approved the PDP on Tues., April 21, 2026. Located within the city’s utility service area, the property will be connected to municipal water and sewer.
The Hickory Ridge subdivision is planned for 47 acres west of Capps Road and will include 73 single‑family lots.
The property was annexed into the city limits in 2025. It will eventually be served by the municipal water system; however, because sewer service is not yet available for the area, the lots have been designed to use septic tanks in the interim.
Both the Hunts Bros and Hickory Ridge projects will add approximately 211 acres and 439 residential units within the city limits, making these developments a part of a broader trend of planned residential development within Lake Wales.
More than 15,000 new homes have been approved in the past several years, including large projects such as Hunt Club North and South, Jewel Ridge, Seasons at Mable Place, and Lakeside Landings. Much of this development is concentrated in the city’s southern and eastern corridors, where recent annexations have opened large tracts for new subdivisions.
At a previous city commission meeting, Growth Management Director Autumn Cochella stated that the City has approved 21,883 residential dwelling units over the past five to ten years; yet only about 6.5% of those units have actually been built.
Lake Wales’ recent wave of annexations, new construction, and residential growth has pushed the city to the second‑fastest growth rate in Polk County over the past year. According to figures from the Polk County Property Appraiser’s office, property valuations jumped by 20.56 percent and surpassed $1.5 billion, as reported by Lake Wales News.
