Naples council discusses joining lawsuit over Senate Bill 180, narrows 2026 legislative priorities

Naples city leaders spent much of the Aug. 20 City Council meeting debating whether the city should join a multi-jurisdiction lawsuit seeking to block parts of Senate Bill 180 and setting which infrastructure and funding requests to press in Tallahassee next year.

The discussion followed an extended staff briefing on proposed appropriation requests — including funding for stormwater and resiliency projects, pump-station upgrades and raw-water well replacement — and a review of recent state laws council members said have reduced local control over land use and recovery after storms.

“More and more often we’re seeing decisions that come from Tallahassee and Washington that are overstepping their place,” Mayor Teresa Heitman said in remarks that framed the council’s later conversation on legal and legislative responses. Heitman and others repeatedly urged careful, strategic outreach to legislators while also preserving options for litigation.

City staff and the council’s communications office prepared…