WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Winter Haven city leaders are looking to dramatically increase impact fees for new development, as the area continues to see tremendous growth.
At Kairos Nutrition, located in downtown Winter Haven, you can find healthy protein products, including energizing teas and acai bowls.
“We wanted to bring good nutrition to a small town, and we found an opportunity here in Winter Haven,” said Ashley Ortiz, Owner of Kairos Nutrition.
Ortiz and her husband moved to Winter Haven almost five years ago. They say the move has been good for business.
WATCH: Winter Haven city leaders are looking to dramatically increase impact fees for new development, as the area continues to see tremendous growth.
“We get a lot of walking traffic. There are a lot of new people that we get in every single day because they’re new to the area,” Ortiz said.
As more and more people move to Winter Haven, city leaders are looking at ways to fund infrastructure demands that come with growth.
“We’ve more than doubled in size from a population of about 26,000 in the early 2000s to present day over 60,000. Really a lot of that’s happened within the last five years,” City Manager T. Michael Stavres said.
The City of Winter Haven is considering increasing impact fees by 139% on new development. The proposed hike comes after the city conducted an "extraordinary circumstances study."
The impact fee for a single-family home would rise from $2,431 to $5,820. Increases are also proposed for multi-family units. These fees would help the city pay for parks and recreation, fire services and libraries.
“It’s putting the cost of growth on those that are coming to the area that are causing the need for additional services,” Stavres said.
Ortiz welcomes the idea. I think it’s a great idea because if we’re going to get more people, we want our city to look better,” she said.
A second public hearing on the proposed impact fee increases will be held June 23 followed by the commission's vote.
If approved, new impact fees could be implemented by Oct. 1.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
