Protect Leon County’s Lake Jackson & Meridian Road

Photo by Doug Alderson

Saving Special Places • Building Better Communities

Leon County Commission Considering Major New Development Rights

Now: Contact Leon County Commissioners (details below)

November 13: Attend Informational Meeting, 6-7 p.m., Northside Community Center, 8005 Oak Grove Road, Room 102. Find out more here

November 18: Attend the Leon County Commission Meeting, 3 p.m., Leon County Courthouse, 5th Floor Commission Chambers, Room 301 (More details available November 10).

RECEIVE ALERTS

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners will be evaluating major changes to the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map (FLUM). These legally binding documents identify how our community will grow over the coming decades. The proposed amendments would specify how our community would grow through 2050.

Proposed changes could bring thousands of new homes and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial development, with significant environmental, transportation, and other impacts on Lake Jackson and the canopied Meridian Road. Due to their major significance, each of these resources has been designated for protection since the early 1970s.

What is proposed?

Expand our community’s Urban Services Area (USA) by close to 1,000 acres near Lake Jackson. This would be the second biggest change to the USA in 28 years, with only the Welaunee development larger.

The Future Land Use Map (FLUM) depicts the location, distribution, and extent of various categories of land, with the USA delineating areas on the FLUM most appropriate for intense residential and commercial development.

Allow development in the ballpark of 2,000 residential units and hundreds of thousands of square feet of shopping centers, businesses, and offices in this area by changing its land use designation from Rural to Lake Protection.

Property under the current Rural land use designation can only be developed at 1 residential dwelling unit for every 10 acres of land. The proposed Lake Protection land use category allows much greater residential and commercial development, setting the stage for massive change.

Contact the Commissioners:

Urge Leon County’s Commissioners to keep the existing Urban Services Area Boundary and Rural Land Use Designation near Lake Jackson to protect the Lake and Meridian Road.

Contact the Commissioners and share your views. Calls and personal emails are best!

District 1 – Commissioner Bill Proctor – 850-606-5361

District 2 – Commissioner Christian Caban, Vice-Chairman – 850-606-5362

District 3 – Commissioner Rick Minor – 850-606-5363

District 4 – Commissioner Brian Welch, Chairman – 850-606-5364

District 5 – Commissioner David T. O’Keefe – 850-606-5365

At-Large – Commissioner Carolyn D. Cummings – 850-606-5369

At-Large – Commissioner Nick Maddox – 850-606-5367

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Why is this a concern?

There has been no environmental analysis of the potential impacts on the Lake Jackson system, the only freshwater lake in Florida to be designated as an Aquatic Preserve. It is also a designated Outstanding Florida Water.
There has been no transportation analysis of the potential impacts on the already congested Meridian Road. This scenic, two-lane canopy road, established in 1824, would be the primary access to new development. It is officially designated as a Tallahassee-Leon County Canopy Road and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
There has been no demonstrated need for major development in this area. Planning staff have shared that our community needs 23,000 more housing units by 2050. Currently, 21,610 new residential units are already in one phase of development or another.
This major expansion of the USA does not follow the regular process and instead has been tucked into a routine comprehensive plan update. Instead, if development is proposed it should comply with the annual application process for major amendments to the comprehensive plan to ensure robust community engagement.
There has been no analysis of the cost to taxpayers to expand the USA. This expansion represents a major public commitment to provide sewer and water, roads, and other urban services to this area.

FIND OUT MORE

About Lake Jackson:

The Lake Jackson system, made up of Lake Jackson, Carr Lake, and Mallard Pond, is one of the state’s most unique and ecologically valuable surface water systems. The Lake Jackson system is the only freshwater lake in Florida to be designated as an Aquatic Preserve, and is also a designated Outstanding Florida Water. The 4,000-acre Lake Jackson has been recognized for years as a prime location for trophy large-mouth bass fishing with four of Tallahassee’s top ten eBird sites for birdwatching nearby. Due to the environmental significance of the Lake Jackson system, protection measures have been in place since 1970. Long a center of civilization, on its south shore is the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds Archeological State Park, established in 1966, which was built and occupied by people of the Fort Walton culture between 1000 and 1500 A.D.

A majority of the current development within the Lake Jackson system is concentrated on the south side, primarily in the form of residential and commercial development. This has contributed heavily to the degraded water quality of the aquatic preserve. This is balanced only by the health and quality of water at the northern end of the lake system, which would be opened for development if the amendments are adopted.

The Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve Management Plan specifically states that water quality along the north end of the lake is considered good, but “…if development increases at the same density seen in the south end of the Lake Jackson watershed, water quality is likely to be negatively impacted.”

Photo by Russell Grace

About Meridian Road:

Primary access to any new development would be provided by the scenic two-lane Meridian Road. Extending from downtown Tallahassee to the Georgia state line, this road was established in 1824 as part of Florida’s Prime Meridian, on which virtually all land surveying in the state is based. With its overhanging canopy of live oaks and distinctive red clay banks that reach eight feet in some places, it is among the finest canopy roads in Leon County. Due to its historic significance and natural beauty, Meridian Road was designated as a canopy road in 1972, with local protection measures. In 2013, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

For many, the greatest worry about a new development of about 1,000 acres along Lake Jackson and Meridian Road is the flood of new cars that will take to the road, adding to the already congested traffic at rush hour. Traffic counts along Meridian Road show that the segment from Ox Bottom to Bannerman is already near capacity. Additional residential units and commercial development in this area will add more cars to the road and cause this segment of Meridian Road to operate far over capacity, likely necessitating widening.