HAINES CITY, Fla. — Extended road closures are no longer allowed in Polk County without approval from the Board of County Commissioners.

Commissioners adopted the resolution Tuesday after county staff granted a developer 220 days to close West Lake Marion Road for the construction of a roundabout at the entrance of a new subdivision.

They later shortened the closure to 113 days following criticism. However, residents and commissioners were still displeased.

Yakeline Pottle lives across the street from the planned 425-home Groves at Grenelefe subdivision. She says her family moved to the area in 2010 for a quiet place to enjoy wildlife, but on Friday, she fought back tears as she shared how much had changed.

“I saw so many deer, turkeys running from this thing (construction)," she said. "They scared them away. That killed our hearts."

Pottle said the construction is also damaging her health. She says she can no longer step outside without the air quality affecting her asthma.

“I have to get more medicine in my body because, look, you don’t see? There’s smoke every day,” she said. “And the dust and everything never happened. We were happy the way we were.”

Thankfully, Pottle says she no longer has to worry about a lengthy road closure — one that would have made her life harder to navigate.

“How would we go to work? What time would I have to leave? Like 11 o’clock? How are we going to avoid the detours?” she said.

This is why Polk County Commissioner Michael Scott said officials unanimously blocked SHD Properties' plan to build a roundabout and implemented a resolution requiring that closures longer than five days be approved by the commission.

“The residents did not like the fact of not having a voice in a road closure that would impact their neighborhood, and this certainly gives them that ability," Scott said. "Because, if it comes before the board, it allows residents or business owners to come and likely be heard."

Now, SHD Properties will need to present an alternate proposal for the subdivision’s entrance. One Scott said would have to be completed in a reasonable amount of time and with fewer detours.

“There are alternatives to roundabouts. Roundabouts aren’t the only type of intersection improvement,” he said. “There are certainly a number of different ways to approach it from a project satisfaction perspective, to meet the requirements of regulating traffic flow and making it a safe intersection.”

Pottle agrees with the commissioner. However, she said there’s only one alternative she would like to see.

“I’d be happier if they stopped the construction,” she said.