HAINES CITY, Fla. (WFTS) — A proposed toll road could slice through a Polk County family’s property, land they’ve called home for generations.
WATCH: Proposed toll road could cut through family’s land near Haines City
Sharon Garrett has lived on her family’s property east of Haines City since she was born. Now, she says a planned route for the Central Polk Parkway East could divide the roughly 250-acre property and pass just 20 feet from her front door.
Garrett’s father, Carl Boozer, bought the first piece of the property in the late 1940s.
“My dad hand-built himself the house that my mom and dad lived in, which was on the corner,” Garrett said.
Garrett and her husband now live on the property, which includes natural areas, and wildlife. Garrett says she has seen bald eagles, sandhill cranes and turkeys on the property.
She and her husband even grow award-winning orchids in greenhouses. “I think we have over 200 awards,” Garrett said.
The Central Polk Parkway East is planned to connect U.S. 27 in Lake Wales to an area just north of U.S. 17-92 near Davenport.
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise has released a map showing the proposed route running between Garrett’s home and a pond to the southwest, north of Baker Dairy Road and south of Champagne Road. The nearest crossing would be an underpass at Champagne Road,
Garrett says the proposed route would pass about 20 feet from her front door, divide the property and cut off Carl Boozer Road, which is the only road providing access to her home.
“The road will just miss this tree or clip some of the outer branches and come in front of my house and then go up the hill,” she said.
For Garrett, the potential loss is about much more than property. It would mean losing a place where she has spent her entire life.
She says she has written to Gov. Ron DeSantis, attended public meetings and offered alternatives to the proposed route. She has even offered 100 acres of her property for wetlands mitigation if the state chooses a different route.
“I have 100 acres that I’ll give them for free if they choose a different route off of our property, preferably up Cypress Parkway,” Garrett said.
The Central Polk Parkway East remains in the planning and design phase. Garrett says no amount of money could replace what the land means to her.
“I’ve grown up here, played here, rode horses here. My pets are buried here. I love this place, but that does not seem to matter to anybody else.”
For Garrett, the fight is about protecting the family property her father began building decades ago and the home she has known her entire life.
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