A developer has withdrawn its application to build 150 homes on a 117-acre flood-prone property along Deeson Road in Kathleen, ending — at least for now — a fight that has stretched across three separate proposals since 2022. The withdrawal came after the Polk County Board of County Commissioners denied a request to delay a hearing on the project that had been scheduled for Monday.
The proposal, known as Kathleen Reserve, was the third attempt by the same developer to build housing on the parcel, according to Tampa Bay 28, whose reporting on the withdrawal forms the basis for much of what is known about the case. County records identify the applicant as Eric Swanson of Swan Capital Partners, LLC, filing under case number LDPD-2026-6 on land owned by Deeson Investments LLC, according to the Polk County Board of County Commissioners. The latest bid sought a Rural Residential Development designation with 60-foot-wide lots and 5-foot setbacks, a request neighboring residents argued amounted to urban-density housing squeezed into a rural flood basin.
A Flood Basin With a Long Memory
The property sits within the floodplain along Blackwater Creek, a drainage system that feeds the Hillsborough River watershed and recorded historic peak discharge during major tropical systems, including Hurricane Frances in 2004, per the Tampa Bay Water Atlas. The land is also part of the Kathleen Drainage Basin, and a Blackwater tributary floodway runs directly through resident Lindsey Haubner's property, according to the seed reporting. State, county, and federal emergency officials have all identified the area as a flood basin.
Resident Cindy Fallin told the outlet that regular rains already cause flooding in the area, and that additional development could wash out houses and families. Haubner said high-density residential development simply does not belong in the basin, warning that more construction could worsen existing drainage and flooding problems that already plague neighboring properties.
Four Years, Three Proposals, One Answer
The fight over the 117-acre site began in 2022, when the developer first pitched 242 homes at 4235 Deeson Road. Neighbors opposed that plan on flooding, drainage, and rural-compatibility grounds, and the Polk County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to reject it with prejudice. Commissioner Neil Combee said from the dais that the site was “poor property” and “a very wet piece of property,” according to FOX 13. Commissioners Combee, Braswell, Santiago, and Wilson voted against the project, while Commissioner Lindsey voted in favor.
The developer returned in 2023 with a scaled-back version calling for 147 homes, but commissioners again denied the plan with prejudice. Under Polk County land-development practices, a denial with prejudice is meant to bar an applicant from submitting a substantially similar plan without material modifications, a standard opponents said the 2026 version failed to meet with what they characterized as only minor numeric tweaks, according to a Change.org petition opposing the project.
Unanimous Rejection, Then a Withdrawal
Ahead of this year's hearings, the same petition drew more than 1,000 signatures, warning that adding fill dirt to elevate 150 homes on the site would displace millions of gallons of stormwater onto surrounding properties. On June 3, the Polk County Planning Commission voted 7-0 to reject the Kathleen Reserve proposal after hearing public testimony from nearby residents, prompting the developer to appeal to the Board of County Commissioners.
The county board had formally scheduled a de novo appeal hearing for Monday under case LDPD-2026-6, a proceeding that would have let commissioners weigh the Planning Commission's denial from scratch rather than simply reviewing it on appeal. But after the board denied the developer's request to delay that hearing, the application was withdrawn instead.
Haubner said residents will continue opposing the subdivision if it resurfaces again, and neighbors remain concerned that another proposal for the property could eventually return. County planning documents describe Deeson Road itself as a two-lane collector road already carrying several thousand vehicle trips a day, a detail residents raised alongside drainage concerns during public hearings.
Growth Pressure Still Building Nearby
The Deeson Road fight has unfolded as north Polk County absorbs rapid growth elsewhere, including county approval of plans for a new Kathleen Government Center, according to Lakelandmarks. That broader civic investment underscores the tension between rural land preservation and residential construction that has defined the Kathleen Reserve saga since 2022. Whether Deeson Investments LLC will now hold the 117 acres as vacant pasture or return with a lower-density agricultural concept more in line with past commissioner suggestions remains an open question.
