A special MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

december 30, 2021

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in special session with the Leesburg City Commission on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at 9:00 a.m., at the Venetian Center, Leesburg, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Sean Parks, Chairman (by Zoom Webinar); Kirby Smith, Vice Chairman (by Zoom Webinar); Douglas B. Shields; Leslie Campione; and Josh Blake. Leesburg City Commissioners present were: Jimmy Burry; John Christian; Jay Connell; Mike Pederson; and Dan Robuck, III. Others present were: Jennifer Barker, Interim County Manager; Melanie Marsh, County Attorney; Niki Booth, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Kristy Mullane, Chief Financial Officer; and Josh Pearson, Deputy Clerk.

welcome

Mayor Christian welcomed everyone to the joint workshop and did a roll call for the Leesburg City Commission.

Commr. Campione mentioned that two County Commissioners were attending the meeting via Zoom.

Ms. Jennifer Barker, Interim County Manager, confirmed that all commissioners were present, including Commissioners Parks and Smith who were attending via Zoom.

Commr. Campione said that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) were very appreciative to have this chance to sit down and have a dialogue with the Leesburg City Commission. She indicated that they were also appreciative of how each of their staff had been working together, noting that the Public Works Department staff had provided a lot of comments on the two annexations that were being discussed that day. She related that the BCC had received a lot of public comment at the county commission meetings and through emails over the last six months about the two annexation applications, and she pointed out that there would not be a public hearing that day to discuss these as the public hearing would take place with the Leesburg City Commission on January 3, 2022. She explained that the intent of this meeting was to bring together their thoughts, concerns, and knowledge that they had from hearing from the residents and have an open dialogue with the Leesburg City Commission so they could understand each other’s perspective and see where they could find some common ground.

presentation by the city of leesburg

Mr. Al Minner, Leesburg City Manager, explained that since there had been a lot of issues regarding the two annexations, which he referred to as Whispering Hills and Hodges Reserve, he wanted to give a background of how the City was approaching growth, specifically with those two annexations. He indicated that cities were considered to be a municipal corporation and that there were disputes about how they perceived their government roles and functions; additionally, he said that typically counties were considered to be rural and municipal corporations were urban. He pointed out that Chapter 165 of the Florida Statutes outlined the purpose of municipal corporations, which included allowing orderly patterns of urban growth, assuring adequate quality and quantity of local public services, and ensuring financial integrity. He indicated that Chapter 165 also set standards for incorporation, such as an area must be compact and contiguous, the total city population must be 5,000 in counties larger than 75,000, the city must have an average density of at least 1.5 persons per acre, the area must be at least two miles from another municipal corporation, and it must have a charter. He opined that municipal corporations did not seek out growth as growth typically found them, noting that they were responsible for maintaining good urban services. He mentioned that Chapter 171.021, Florida Statutes, addressed the need for adjusting boundaries, specifying that they did this through annexations or contractions to ensure sound urban development and accommodate growth, to establish uniform legislative standards, to ensure an efficient provision of urban services, and to ensure that areas were not annexed unless municipal services could be provided. He noted that Chapter 171.043(1) stated that municipal corporations could annex only unincorporated territory that was compact and contiguous and that there was a specific process for voluntary annexations of single land owners or corporate land owners, adding that the City typically had voluntary annexations. He pointed out that Part II of Chapter 171 stated that if a municipal corporation had an agreement with a county, then they could change the rules to achieve their mission of providing the provision of urban services. He specified that the City of Leesburg and Lake County entered into an Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement (ISBA) that permitted non-contiguous annexation on November 24, 2014 and that the City agreed that the ISBA was still in effect. He indicated that the Whispering Hills annexation was compact and contiguous and was surrounded by two sides of urban growth. He related that the Hodges Reserve annexation was not contiguous until the annexation of Whispering Hills and that the City had incorporated other non-contiguous unincorporated territory without objection from the County. He then explained that the mission of a municipal corporation was to provide and maintain urban services, such as the following: water, wastewater, electric, natural gas, solid waste, and general services which included transportation, law enforcement, fire and rescue, zoning, parks and recreation, library, and cultural facilities. He then discussed facts about the City and mentioned that the population in 2020 was 27,000 which was an annual growth of 3.4 percent per year from 2010 which was 20,117. He stated that 51 developments had been approved since 2005 which resulted in 25,214 residential units. He also displayed a map of the City showing the location of Whispering Hills and Hodges Reserve as well as the locations of the seven non-contiguous annexations, pointing out that four of them were in the east of the City of Leesburg while three were in the south of the City of Leesburg. He then displayed a close up of the map for the south of the City of Leesburg, pointing out that Whispering Hills was located east of United States (US) 27 and was adjacent to four major subdivisions that were urban in nature including Arlington Ridge and Legacy which were incorporated, and Highland Lakes and Plantation which were unincorporated, and that Hodges Reserve was just below Whispering Hills. He opined that although this was a large area of territory, it was the City’s job to manage the growth that came before them and to manage it according to their regulations.

Commr. Campione said that she appreciated the presentation and then mentioned that she recalled that the City of Groveland and City of Leesburg ISBAs were focused on two primary goals, which were to figure out the closest unit response for fire and the extension of water and sewer lines. She elaborated that the City of Groveland was pushing in the direction of north and east and the City of Leesburg was pushing south; therefore, they negotiated an ISBA so that water and sewer lines were not put out to claim future territory. She related that if an ISBA boundary was delineated then the services would be extended when they were needed and not just for the sake of trying to grow and claim territory. She indicated that the land use side of it was not addressed, noting that the County had put in place the Yalaha/Lake Apopka rural protection area in the exact area they were talking about with the understanding that even though it was not delineated in the ISBA it would be given consideration by the City of Leesburg as annexation applications were received to see whether or not they were appropriate and whether the designations, the land use, and the densities were consistent with the property. She opined that the unincorporated residents had relied upon the rural protection area designation to help protect the rural lifestyle that they loved as they thought the area would stay that way. She asked that as the City processed the applications and managed the growth that they would do so in concert with the rural protection area with the understanding that one unit to five acres, which was the requirement in the rural protection area, did not line up with the City’s growth pattern. She asked if there was a way to annex areas in the rural protection area and still achieve the purposes the City was trying to achieve while protecting the character and the quality of life of the residents that wanted to continue to be in a rural area. She indicated that they had been talking with a renowned land planner who had done land planning throughout the U.S. and his whole focus was how to create subdivisions that preserved the rural character, the green spaces, and the open spaces. She added that the development was laid out to where the infrastructure was tightly clustered and the green spaces were left open, which was less expensive to the developer. She elaborated that the plan tried to link the natural systems together while creating wildlife corridors and open spaces and then the location of the houses would be decided. She remarked that this was something they wanted to present to other municipalities around the county as a way to address the conflict they were having when trying to protect the rural areas, the residents’ quality of life, and the character of Lake County while knowing that the cities wanted to grow and land owners wanted to annex. She expressed that they hoped this concept would be the answer and that they were asking for the City to take this under consideration.

presentation by the board of county commissioners

Mr. Tim McClendon, Director of Planning and Zoning, stated that he was a certified planner with the American Planning Association and then gave an overview of rural conservation subdivisions (RCS). He indicated that Lake County staff had been developing guidelines and would hopefully adopt an ordinance within the next month or two describing what an RCS was and why it was needed, noting that this was a reaction to the growth patterns occurring in the county and the city limits. He then showed pictures of a traditional subdivision as compared to an RCS and pointed out that both subdivisions had the same amount of density; however, the RCS was clustered with added green spaces and wildlife corridors, and also established a more rural feel. He opined that this was a more environmentally sound design with large open spaces making it more compatible and consistent with the existing rural developments. He then showed pictures of some examples of subdivisions that had implemented this strategy, noting that there was a 50 acre site in Indian Walk, Pennsylvania that had been designed by Mr. Randall Arendt that left 40 acres as open space and developed the other 10 acres with 10 dwelling units. He explained that clustering the development and leaving the open space was better for stormwater as stormwater runoff was kept to a minimum and followed low impact development standards. He stated that Parks at Wolf Branch was a 116 acre site with one dwelling unit per one acre with 50 percent open space; additionally, he said that the property had not been clear cut and that the development was clustered around the existing trees on the site. He mentioned that limited infrastructure for roads was required and that this was designed Mr. Arendt in the early 2000s. He then displayed pictures showing designs of a conventional development as compared to an RCS and pointed out that the roads faced the back of the houses whereas the roads faced the front of the houses of an RCS and had more open spaces. He also noted that it was the same amount of parcels and same densities. He then displayed maps showing an aerial view of the area of Whispering Hills and Hodges Reserve as well as the nearby rural protection areas.

Commr. Campione remarked that the City did not have to approve of this application just because it was received and met the statutes. She then mentioned that they learned from Mr. Arendt’s presentation that his concept was a density neutral solution and that although they wanted to see one unit per five acres, they knew that as the City continued to grow the parcels would eventually end up being contiguous and compact. She indicated that if a developer was proposing a certain number of units per acre and the City believed that was reasonable then they could use the conservation design to centralize those units into the center of the property and put in large 200 to 300 foot buffers of open space around the perimeters so that the rural community could still coexist and not feel like a subdivision was in their backyard. She said that they were hopeful the City would consider doing master planning with the County and create a joint planning agreement (JPA) that would incorporate this type of design since this was a rural protection area. She recommended that they move the traffic away from the rural roads and directly onto US 27 so that the rural roads would not turn completely into an urbanized situation which could change the area forever. She pointed out that she had sent an email to the City Commission listing these ideas and concepts with the hope that they could work on a joint master plan and engage the services of Mr. Arendt; additionally, she said that this could be a template they could use throughout the county so that these new developments could coexist with the rural communities.

open dialogue

Commr. Burry mentioned that the two projects were distinctly different, and then asked if they would consider the current plan for Whispering Hills to be environmentally friendly or not.

Commr. Campione answered that there were things they could do on the front end to make sure it would be environmentally friendly and functional open space friendly. She related that the current design showed a mixed use project around the lakes; however, she was unsure that could be done as one of them looked like a sinkhole type of lake. She noted that Mr. Arendt would probably design it differently by connecting all of that together, making it a functional open space, and moving the mixed use a little further away which would still have aesthetic qualities. She pointed out that the buffers would need to be significantly larger, such as 200 feet, to keep the coexistence between Whispering Hills and the rural community that was around it. She indicated that they approved a project in South Lake on the Orange County line that was a good example of how a developer could take their density, bring it internal, and create large buffers; additionally, she said that the existing trees were left to make a forested buffer and if any died a new one would be replanted. She related that five acre tracts abutted this project and that the buffers were a tremendous help with easing the transition between five acre tract living and subdivision living.

Mayor Christian stated that he has been on the commission since 2004 and that he believed the City had done a fair job of managing their growth. He related that they all knew that US 27 was going to be a high growth area due to the connectivity to Florida’s Turnpike and with the Villages coming out to County Road (CR) 470. He mentioned that the City of Leesburg schools had been talked about negatively and he believed that was because they did not have new families coming to their city to improve the schools. He indicated that the City was not slated for a new school or to even have the current schools remodeled; furthermore, he said that the Lake Square Mall was suffering and that they needed people to move into their city in order to help. He pointed out that the developer of Whispering Hills had met with the residents on multiple occasions and had changed their plans to accommodate them; additionally, he said that he did not think it was a good idea to ask the developer to change their plans and put it on hold for months at this point. He opined that City staff had worked hard to get development into the city that would look nice, that was not cookie cutter, and that would have good aesthetics when coming down US 27; furthermore, he said that they wanted to clean up US 27 and make their image more attractive. He mentioned that the City had worked well with the County over the years and that he wanted to continue that, noting that he would prefer to not have any objections from the County at their January 3, 2022 hearing unless they planned on objecting to all annexations the residents did not want within other cities. He related that there were always going to be residents who did not like new development; however, they always tried their best to listen to the residents while still doing what they believed was best for the entire city. He said that they wanted to accommodate future growth while making sure their city was financially strong and had integrity as well as making sure the developments could coexist.

Commr. Robuck opined that it was misleading to say that the rural protection area was part of the ISBA as he believed that was not true. He also said that Mr. Arendt’s designs were nice; however, he did not think that all growth should look like that since that was not what everyone wanted. He opined that the type of homes built as one unit per acre were typically million dollar homes and most people could not afford that. He related that most of the workforce in the City of Leesburg wanted to live in the city and not rural areas and did not want multifamily either as they wanted their own home with a backyard, even if it was small. He opined that they should not be telling people where they must live. He stated that there were many road issues and that he was encouraged to see the County spending general fund money on roads this year; additionally, he said that the City generated over $8.5 million in ad valorem taxes and spent some of that towards roads. He noted that Leesburg High School currently had less students than when he graduated in 2002 and that they needed growth. He indicated that the City had done several non-contiguous and contiguous annexations in rural protection areas and there seemed to be no problem then; however, people were now complaining to the BCC and they were trying to get involved in the City’s business. He mentioned that they had a lawsuit regarding a development in the same rural protection area and that it had been settled with the developer going forward with some changes. He expressed that he was open to preserving the ISBA; however, he opined that annexations were part of the City’s planning and that was their business.

Mr. Minner commented that if the County wanted to make Lake County keep a rural feel to it then they needed to promote that by building the infrastructure and giving it to the cities so that the market for those types of homes then became affordable.

Commr. Campione indicated that being density neutral was the idea for this concept and that she believed Mr. Arendt would say that his product was actually more feasible and cost effective for the developer and produced a higher end, more desirable product; furthermore, she said that the market would most likely respond to this as they had examples of how it already had. She related that was why she wanted Mr. Arendt to make a presentation to the City of Leesburg and then work together on a master plan. She remarked that they wanted to do better for the county as there was not much left to do better with and that they knew what it would look like if it was not designed in a better way than what was seen in other places. She expressed that having large buffers would go a long way and would make it to where the city could still grow but the rural communities would also continue to thrive and stay beautiful.

Commr. Shields pointed out that the City of Groveland just recently redesigned their land use to align with Mr. Arendt’s concept and that some developers found the new concept beneficial and were taking old planned unit developments (PUDs) that had already been approved and ready to develop and were changing to the new model because they realized it gave them more affordable housing, larger buffers, and protected the rural protection areas. He said that they were having great success with it and that a lot of people wanted this change.

Commr. Parks apologized for not being in attendance in person and then thanked the City of Leesburg for hosting this meeting. He said that this was a difficult discussion and he appreciated Mayor Christian for reaching out to him recently to discuss this. He also said that he appreciated Commissioner Robuck’s comments and stressed that no matter what happened with these decisions he wanted to make sure they still had an open dialogue and continued to work together to address the growth in Lake County. He noted that there was a whole process for the site plan development and that he wanted to make sure Lake County stayed unique and did not turn into an area such as the City of Orlando metro area. He opined that there were a lot of good design elements with Mr. Arendt’s concept, such as being environmentally and conservation friendly, as well as fiscally sustainable; however, he did have a few concerns. He elaborated that the existing development model was not fiscally sustainable and that they wanted to be careful with that moving forward. He mentioned that he was looking forward to the discussions that would happen at the February 7, 2022 meeting between the BCC and the cities where they could look at a countywide conservation strategy and discuss topics such as the transfer of development rights to protect property rights as well as the rural areas; additionally, he said that they could get higher density in certain areas and also have attainable housing benefits.

Commr. Smith also apologized for not being in attendance in person and then expressed his gratitude to the City of Leesburg for listening to their concerns and working with the developer to address the concerns, noting that the developer made a lot of changes to the Whispering Hills subdivision such as taking the traffic off of Number 2 Road and putting it onto US 27, preserving almost 50 percent of the conservation wetland area, and condensing the homes in a centralized area to protect the rural feel of the neighbors to the south and east. He indicated that this project included residential and commercial growth, which he thought was beneficial since commercial did not use as many services as residential. He opined that the developer had gone above what they were required to do. He then remarked that he could not wait for the February 7, 2022 meeting so that they could create a good plan for all of Lake County.

Commr. Campione mentioned that she heard a presentation from the Whispering Hills project’s representative explaining that approximately 41 of the units would access Number 2 Road and she wanted to get confirmation from the City that there would be an agreement that the remaining units would access US 27 once it hit a certain level; additionally, she said that only one entrance for a project with the magnitude of having about 2,300 units of homes could be problematic.

Mr. Minner explained that the City’s land development code required having two access points for each subdivision and that the original proposal was for access from US 27 to Number 2 Road; however, the City had them change the proposal to two access points on US 27. He elaborated that if two access points were not available, then the City required a major front entry which would be double the size and then another entry. He noted that the amended concept included a major entry on US 27 with an alternate in the next phase to US 27.

Commr. Campione asked if that would go through the Windmill subdivision, and Mr. Minner confirmed this. Commissioner Campione then opined that this concession was one of the most meaningful and most important because of what that would do to Number 2 Road if it was ever used as another entrance. She then asked if the only entrance to Hodges Reserve was Dewey Robbins Road.

Mr. Minner confirmed this.

Commr. Campione asked if there was a way to have more buffering for Hodges Reserve since it looked to be more like a cookie cutter development, whereas Whispering Hills had some unique features. She also questioned whether they could put the multifamily units of Whispering Hills 300 feet off the property lines since that would be a very intensive use to have next to rural five acre tracts and farmland. She said that those were things they could implement without having a complete redesign by someone like Mr. Arendt, and that they could help insulate the intensity of the project to the rural lifestyle around it. She reiterated her request for the City to look at those things as a way to protect and coexist the surrounding rural areas.

Commr. Pederson commented that he thought the Yalaha area was a beautiful area and that he wished it would not get developed; however, he knew that was not the reality. He noted that he was not in favor of the Hodges Reserve development because he believed Dewey Robbins Road could not support the traffic; however, he was excited for Whispering Hills because the developer was designing it to help make the neighbors happy. He pointed out that this was the first development where he had not heard negative feedback on. He expressed that he was in support of Whispering Hills and that he was open to having discussions on how to handle future development.

Commr. Campione stated that it might be helpful if Mr. Jeff Earhart with the Public Works Department could talk about Dewey Robbins Road and the conversation between the County and the City on what would need to happen with that road.

Commr. Robuck questioned whether any improvements had been made by the developer.

Mr. Minner answered that as part of the review process the County reviewed the roads and traffic impacts and that information was put into the PUD.

Commr. Campione agreed, but noted that there was only so much the developer was required to do. She related that in a perfect world there would always be enough right of way and the ability to widen roads that needed widening; however, she opined that was not the way the system worked. She mentioned that she thought it would be helpful for everyone to hear what the review of Dewey Robbins Road looked like and whether the necessary improvements could be made.

Mr. Earhart pointed out that Dewey Robbins Road was better than Number 2 Road from a capability and build standpoint. He then explained that they had asked the developer to give additional right of way, sidewalks along the frontage for pedestrian access, as well as left and right turn lanes into the development, and were planning to ask for paved shoulders. He said that there were traffic concerns with Whispering Hills, noting that it would generate about 30,000 trips per day, which added about 33,000 to the peak hour. He indicated that the traffic study showed that there were six or seven intersections that were already at unacceptable levels of service and that they were looking to do proportionate share on two of them.

Commr. Campione opined that proportionate share would not bring the intersections up to the standards they needed to be. She also opined that going forward the County and the cities should all agree that they could do a better job because all of this growth impacted the roads; additionally, she said that in order to accommodate this growth, the County’s entire General Fund budget would have to go towards roads, and then there would be no funding left for other services. She related that if the cities were going to be facilitating this growth then they needed to come up with a better way to handle the road situation; furthermore, she said that they had discussed using special districts and a municipal service taxing unit (MSTU) as solutions.

Mr. Minner disagreed, noting that the cities and the County had a good relationship because the cities had never complained. He stated that the City of Leesburg had mixed urban and rural services that they fixed together, adding that they provided fire services so that the County could spend money elsewhere. He also noted that they took care of all of the utilities while the County received about five mills for taking care of the roads.

Commr. Campione commented that the only control they had for right of way and widening of Dewey Robbins Road was right where Hodges Reserve was going to be.

Mr. Minner reiterated that the City was going to request more right of way.

Commr. Campione mentioned that was only along the Hodges Reserve property, adding that there was a large gap between where Hodges Reserve ended and US 27 began and opined that there would be no additional right of way or improvements on that road.

Mr. Minner remarked that the concept of a rural utopia was not functional and that the City’s job was to manage the growth which he believed was inevitable; furthermore, he said that the BCC’s arguments were not legal arguments to take away the rights of property owners. He opined that trying to stop these developments or to create a different atmosphere with the current rules and systems that were in place was not practical; additionally, he said that they needed to think outside the box if they wanted to keep Lake County rural.

Commr. Campione expressed that was her point, which was to relook at this to find a different solution.

Mr. Minner indicated that if they did this in an arbitrary way they would just push growth into different areas. He believed that if they removed all of the ISBAs, there would be a free for all, opining that Hodges Reserve would get annexed into the City of Groveland instead of the City of Leesburg. He emphasized that he believed the City of Leesburg was doing a good job with their resources and with planning and development.

Commr. Campione said that was what caused them to discuss creating the ISBAs. She also mentioned that there was not a lot of thought about the land use side of it, adding that she specifically recalled discussions regarding whether the City of Groveland or the City of Leesburg would get that area.

Mr. Minner pointed out that the ISBAs were created to decide who took care of emergency services and that there was no discussion about utilities. He also related that the lines were formed around where the cities could get the infrastructure. He recalled that the County’s concern was who would cover emergency services and noted that the cities who signed up all agreed to cover it.

Commr. Campione remarked that they came there that day to discuss Mr. Arendt’s concept because they wanted to try to do things differently and she knew this concept worked.

Mr. Minner opined that it did not work and gave the example of the Silver Lake golf course in the City of Leesburg. He indicated that the 150 acres was annexed by the City to be developed for 352 homes; however, he said that it was never developed because of infrastructure problems. He related that a rural estate concept was then discussed for 35 one acre homes; however, that never happened because there was no return for the developers. He opined that it was hard to build a big house on one acre and sell it for market, adding that if that was what they wanted then the government needed to subsidize that.

Commr. Blake commented that he believed Mr. Arendt’s concept was a neat idea and that there was a market for it in many areas. He opined that everyone who lived in a rural protection area made that area less rural by building homes and encroaching on animal habitats. He noted that it seemed as though people treated rural protection areas as conservation areas, adding that the Florida Natural Areas Inventory had a catalog of the conservation areas throughout the State of Florida and that 34 percent of Lake County was in permanent conservation, which he said did not include the areas covered by their navigable waterways. He expressed that he had a philosophical disagreement with putting a land designation on property that encumbered future property rights. He noted that America’s foundation was based upon the idea of property rights and being able to do what one wanted with their own property; furthermore, he said that no one had the right to a perpetual view of someone else’s property. He mentioned that traffic considerations happened as part of the process. He opined that contiguous annexation was a City of Leesburg issue and he thought the County needed to let the City manage their annexation process, which was in turn managed by the State.

Commr. Parks commented that he wanted to make it clear that the BCC was not trying to tell the City of Leesburg what to do or that they did not want them to grow; furthermore, he said that as elected officials they were in this together and they just wanted to look at a new model and process for addressing growth. He related that there were ideas that were not fiscally sustainable or were not indicative of Lake County, noting that there were many examples of growth that was not the best for them in South Lake. He mentioned that he believed this new process respected the market economy as well as property rights, and opined that a large part of Lake County being one unit per acre would not be sustainable; furthermore, he said that one, two, or five acre lots on restricted land uses could sometimes be detrimental to the environment and the road system, which was why they wanted to work together to come up with a different process and create larger open space areas.

Commr. Campione said that they came there that day in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration and were not trying to tell the City they could not grow. She indicated that she believed some of the things she said were misunderstood, and pointed out that her point with Hodges Reserve was that there was a huge distance from that property to US 27 and without all of that right of way Dewey Robbins Road would not be up to the standards it should be for a project of that nature; additionally, she opined that the location was not optimal for the workforce type of housing as it was higher density. She related that she asked for the City to review the design and it’s impacts and opined that just because a developer asked for a certain number of units it did not mean the City needed to give them that many. She mentioned that she appreciated what Whispering Hills had done so far by putting some of the larger lots on the east boundary and trying to limit the amount of traffic on Number 2 Road. She then asked if the City would consider widening the buffers in Whispering Hills along the perimeters from 30 feet to 50 feet to create an insulation between the nearby residents and the new development which would also provide space for the equestrian trail system that was part of the project. She also suggested increasing the buffer between the multifamily units to between 200 and 300 feet so that there would be an open space area.

Commr. Shields commented that he was unsure where the City got the idea that the BCC did not want them to grow; furthermore, he said that they were just trying to protect their unincorporated residents and were trying to balance all of this out. He elaborated that they saw a terrific model for how to do this and that they were asking for some joint planning which he believed was the best solution for everyone.

Commr. Smith asked if the Whispering Hills project had two equestrian centers, six miles of equestrian trails, and almost 50 percent of open land and wetland, and Mayor Christian confirmed this.

Commr. Smith reiterated his appreciation for the City of Leesburg’s efforts in working with the developer on this project, adding that it seemed as though they had taken many of the concerns into consideration. He noted that there would be a one unit per five acre model on the south and east side of the abutting properties and that traffic would be deferred to US 27 rather than being on Number 2 Road and CR 48.

Commr. Campione expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to sit down together. She pointed out that she hoped they could have more meetings like this and that she welcomed the concept of thinking outside of the box to try to address some of the issues that come up when new projects were coming online and do some master planning.

Ms. Melanie Marsh, County Attorney, asked if there had been any change in direction to her attendance at the City’s meeting on January 3, 2022 to object to the annexation.

Commr. Blake said that he did not think Ms. Marsh needed to be there.

Commr. Parks opined that it would be fine to have someone from the County be in attendance to listen to the presentation; however, he did not want Ms. Marsh to object.

Commr. Smith said that he was fine with no objection.

Commr. Shields said that they were already at a three to two decision of no objection.

Commr. Campione remarked that she made it clear where she was at, noting that she thought they could do better and wished they could work together to pin down some of the details that would help with the transition.

Mayor Christian thanked the BCC for attending the joint workshop and for working together to think outside the box. He related that he believed the City staff would look at new ideas and concepts as they moved forward in the future.

Commr. Robuck expressed that the reason it seemed as though they believed the County did not want them to grow was because he had discussions with Commissioner Campione regarding the BCC’s concerns with Whispering Hills several months ago and that she had also requested that the County object to the annexation. He indicated that the developer had addressed those concerns by taking traffic off of Number 2 Road, having less density on the opposite side of Number 2 Road by going down to 41 units from 200 units, and restricting the amount of age restricted development. He believed the developer had gone above and beyond to meet those requests; however, the City was still being asked not to do it.

Commr. Campione remarked that the request was to incorporate some of the requests from the other residents.

Commr. Robuck commented that the request was to have the County Attorney come and object to the annexation.

Commr. Campione said that they tried to have a joint meeting at the front end of these projects, but they could never get one.

Commr. Robuck noted that the City had requested multiple meetings; however, they never received a response back from the County in a timely manner.

Commr. Campione disagreed, noting that the County attempted to have multiple meetings.

Mayor Christian said that they were at a point now where they could move forward in a positive direction while considering the County’s concerns; however, he believed city annexations were a city issue. He opined that it would be unfair to ask these two developers to change things now considering Whispering Hills had already done a lot to accommodate the residents’ concerns; additionally, he said that he has never seen a developer with those types of concessions. He mentioned that there was a cost to every change that was made and that the developer had already made many changes. He indicated that he believed the City Commission had done a great job of asking developers to grow as the City would have them grow, noting that they did not approve everything and have requested developers to change their designs and buffers. He thanked the County for being at the meeting and for the commissioners who asked Ms. Marsh to not object at the January 3, 2022 meeting.

Commr. Robuck said that he thought it would be appropriate for the rest of the County Commissioners to have a list of Commissioner Campione’s demands.

Commr. Campione mentioned that they all received a copy, clarifying that they were not demands, but were topics that she thought could be considered as alternatives. She said that she tried to present it in a way that if the City did not want to look at a conservation design, then they could possibly look at implementing some of the concepts into the projects, such as not changing the topography or grading the property. She related that it was done in the spirit of collaboration while trying to be good stewards and represent the people of Lake County.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:49 a.m.

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SEAN PARKS, chairman

ATTEST:

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GARY J COONEY, CLERK