Leesburg to open talks with Lake County on joint planning agreement; city manager proposes sunsetting ISBA

City Manager told the Leesburg City Commission on Tuesday that he will start discussions with the Lake County manager on a Joint Planning Agreement (JPA) that could supersede the city's existing ISBA and change how annexations and some road responsibilities are handled.

The move matters because a JPA could change the rules governing annexation, land development coordination and which agency is responsible for certain roads and services in areas where the city and county both have interests.

The City Manager said he had emailed commission members earlier the same day outlining suggested starting points and that, if the commission agreed, he would forward that email to the county manager. "I sent out an email earlier today, about, potentially speaking with the county about a joint, joint Planning agreement," the City Manager said. He described the document he circulated as a draft "working document" that would return to both governing bodies for repeated review and public input.

Among the specific elements the City Manager said the city would propose are keeping the "SBA box" that defines expected growth boundaries while eliminating noncontiguous annexations and reverting to the annexation process governed by Section 163 of the Florida Statutes. "We would propose anything such a GPA. We keep the SBA box... We eliminate the the noncontiguous annexations, and we revert back to a process of, I'm gonna call it 163 annexations, because that's the statute that regulates how you annex," the City Manager said.

He said a city liaison would likely lead negotiations and that staff expect a long process with extensive public input: "I assume that there'll probably be quite this several discussions on there. The liaison will probably be me or Dan as the lead point for how we would talk with them. And then this document will be a working document, so we'll come back before each body... for review and input." The City Manager added, "But I I think it would be a long process and lots of public input and commission elected official review."

The discussion also referenced county-level proposals on road funding. A commissioner noted Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks submitted a Lake County roads funding strategy to the county commission; the City Manager acknowledged the county and city have discussed taking over some county roads in areas the city has annexed or where development is on both sides, citing examples such as West Main from Canal to U.S. 27. "There's some roads that the city probably should assume," the City Manager said, identifying collector roads as the primary candidates.

On the question of how the ISBA would be "sunset," the City Manager said the ISBA would be removed only if a JPA with a clause that expressly supersedes the ISBA is approved. "I think the indication... from the county commission that they're not real happy with the ISBA as of late. So if we're gonna endeavor into this JPA language, then I think we we need to pull back the ISBA... the ISBA would only sunset if a JPA is approved," he said. He also said there may need to be negotiated exceptions for annexations already in staff queues.

Commissioners raised timing and process questions. The City Manager gave preliminary scheduling: a charter-related meeting on June 2, the JPA kickoff July or June 30 (dates were discussed as part of a series), and additional work on fire services expected in July. He emphasized the JPA would be negotiated and brought back to both the Lake County Board of County Commissioners and the Leesburg City Commission for review.

No formal motion or vote was taken on the proposal. The City Manager said he would send the draft points to the county manager if the commission had no objections.

Next steps: staff will send the draft JPA bullets to the county manager and return to the commission with a working document and opportunities for public workshops and repeated review.