SEBRING — County and state officials have no control over when Highlands County's home building industry will recover. That depends on whether the economy keeps slumping or starts jumping. But government officials will control where the the new development occurs, and that's at the heart of the county commissioners' pending adoption of what the state calls "urban services boundaries." Commissioners laid the groundwork this week to do just that before the end of this month, with a few twists. ...more

December 13, 2007

SEBRING — The county's long-running dispute with the state over development plans in Highlands County should be settled by mid October. At stake is final state approval that would allow: * Development of 4,637 acres; * Construction of 6,438 housing units, broken down into 4,537 single family homes, 192 mobile homes and 1,739 multi-family units; * Commercial projects totaling 5.1 million square feet; and * Industrial/warehouse projects totaling 5.9 million square feet. That is the total potential growth within 42 large-scale amendments to the Highlands County Comprehensive Plan which were approved by county commissioners in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but not yet approved by the Florida Department of Community Affairs. DCA recently sent the county a final settlement offer to approve all of those comp plan amendments. County commissioners will vote on DCA's settlement offer following a public hearing at their Oct. 16 meeting. ...more

September 30, 2007