Concrete Driveways in Lake Bentley, Lakeland

Old slabs on 1950s and 1960s lots near Sylvester Road

Polk County Property Appraiser records put the middle half of Lake Bentley's single-family homes between 1958 and 1972, on plats like College Heights (1955), Sylvester Shores (1960) and Rugby Estates (1962). Bentley Pines and Oakbrook came later. The median single-family lot is about 10,480 sq ft.

If your driveway is the original slab, the old concrete comes out first. That runs $2 to $4 per sq ft on top of the new concrete driveway, priced as its own line. Our concrete driveway service page covers new concrete driveway installation across the city. The Lakeland driveway cost guide runs the math by size, and the Lake Bentley neighborhood page covers patios, walks and pads around the lake. Live closer to Lake Hollingsworth? See concrete driveways in Lake Hollingsworth.

What Sec. 4.11.4.6 allows on a Lake Bentley lot

Lakeland's Land Development Code, Sec. 4.11.4.6 (Ord. 5793), sets the outline for single-family and two-family driveways. Lake Bentley doesn't overlap a historic district, so the 8 to 10 foot limit used in Historic Dixieland and the blocks around Lake Morton doesn't reach you. Here's what does apply:

• Width: 10 to 24 feet for a standard driveway.
• Ribbon driveways: 7 to 10 feet from outer edge to outer edge, with each tire track at least 2 feet wide.
• Circular driveways: 10 to 14 feet wide, and only on lots with at least 75 feet of frontage.
• Length: at least 20 feet.
• Curb cuts: one per lot. The exceptions are circular drives, side-by-side two-family homes and lots with access to an improved alley.

That last line is the one that stops a second entrance. A driveway extension that widens a single-car strip stays legal up to 24 feet. A second apron runs into the one-cut limit unless one of those exceptions fits. Want to see the width before you sign? Ask us to mark the outline on the ground at the free visit.

What It Costs

These are our Lakeland driveway ranges, applied to Lake Bentley lots. Where a job lands inside them depends on the size of the old slab, the tear-out and the apron work at the street.

Your free written estimate comes after we see the site, within 48 hours of the visit. Permit fees, a 5 inch slab and the apron each get their own line.

City street, private lane or US 98: who owns the curb you cross

The City's street centerline map shows about 14.2 km of City-owned streets inside the Lake Bentley neighborhood. About 0.5 km is coded private, and about 3.8 km of US 98 S, Bartow Road, is coded State along the edge. Each one changes the apron paperwork.

City streets (Sylvester Road, New Jersey Road, Fredricksburg Avenue, East Edgewood Drive and most side streets): Building Inspection processes the residential driveway permit and Public Works Engineering inspects it. The City wants a pre-construction notice at least 48 hours before work starts. Apron work in City right-of-way also needs a Right-of-Way Use Permit and has to meet the City's Engineering Standards Manual. You'll find the contacts on the permit and inspection page.

Private segments (parts of Edgewood Dr S, Taft Ave and Hollingsworth Creek): these are coded private, not City-owned. If you live on one, tell us, and we'll confirm the apron steps for your address before we set forms.

US 98 frontage: the State owns this road, so the City right-of-way permit isn't the one that covers the apron. Before you plan any change at the road, ask FDOT about a connection.

New public sidewalks planned on South Edgewood Drive and Sylvester Road

The City's funded sidewalk map lists two City-funded sidewalk projects inside Lake Bentley. One is South Edgewood Drive from Taft Avenue to US 98. The other is Sylvester Road from Fredricksburg Avenue to New Jersey Road. The map shows no start date or fiscal year for either one.

Does your house front one of those stretches? Ask Public Works Engineering about the project before you replace the apron. Where a public sidewalk crosses a driveway, that crossing sits in the right-of-way, and right-of-way work follows the Engineering Standards Manual (Volume II covers driveways, sidewalks, curbs and curb ramps). An apron poured now could be partly cut out when the sidewalk goes in.

On those streets the job can split in two. The private part, from garage or carport to property line, follows your quote. The apron can be formed to whatever grade and layout Public Works Engineering gives for the future walk. If the City can't say yet, you can pour the private section now and leave the apron for later. We'll price the driveway replacement both ways.

How Your Job Goes

1. Tape out the code limits

   We check frontage, width and length against Sec. 4.11.4.6, and find out whether your street is City, private or State.

2. Probe the ground

   We look at the sand under the old slab, then plan the base, thickness and drainage pitch.

3. Written quote in 48 hours

   Tear-out, slab, apron and permit each sit on a separate line, so nothing gets buried.

4. Permit, notice and 48-hour call

   The permit is filed, your Notice of Commencement is recorded, and the City gets notice at least 48 hours before work starts.

5. Pour, cure and clean up

   We place the concrete, cut the joints, start curing and leave the jobsite clean. Cars stay off 7 days.

Tavares sand, mining-spoil sand and the soft corners

Lake Bentley's soil map is mostly sand, but not one kind of sand. The largest unit, Tavares-Urban land complex (about 37.7 percent of the neighborhood), is rated moderately well drained. Tavares fine sand adds another 11.1 percent.

Neilhurst makes up about 15.6 percent. The USDA series description says it formed in sandy spoil from mining that the wind reworked. Smaller pieces are Ona fine sand, a poorly drained flatwoods soil, plus Smyrna, Myakka and Samsula muck. Soil maps work at neighborhood scale, so your own lot can differ. A sound spec on this ground:

• Roots, sod and soft fill stripped out, then the sand compacted in lifts.
• 4 inches minimum, and 5 where a work truck or trailer parks.
• 4,000 psi concrete, the minimum the IRMCA homeowner driveway sheet sets at 28 days (a practice target, not a Florida code number).
• Saw-cut control joints no more than 10 feet apart and at least a quarter of the slab depth.
• A pitch that sends water toward the street or the lawn, never back at the garage.

Flood-zone parcels, the $7,500 exemption and the Notice of Commencement

FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer puts about 12.65 percent of the Lake Bentley neighborhood in Zone AE, with a base flood elevation of 118.8 feet. Small slivers of Zone A and floodway sit on top of that. Parcel by parcel, 117 of the 1,119 single-family parcels touch a special flood hazard area (panel 12105C0320G).

Florida HB 803 requires local governments to exempt qualifying non-structural work under $7,500 on a single-family home from permits. There's a catch: a written exemption request has to be approved first, it never applies to a property in a flood hazard area, and whether a driveway qualifies is up to the building official. If your parcel is one of the 117, plan on a full driveway permit.

The other piece of paper is the Notice of Commencement. Under F.S. 713.13 with 713.02(5), the owner (or the owner's authorized agent) records it with the Clerk before work starts on any direct contract over $2,500, and a copy is posted at the job. Over $5,000, a copy also goes to the building department before the first inspection.