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Re : Proposed Amendments to FS 180. 02(2) and FS 153 .03 ( 1 ) Dear Debbie, At the Legislative Delegation meeting on December 19, 2012, you asked whether our proposed amendment to FS 180 . 02(2) — which would require county consent before a municipality may extend utility services outside of municipal boundaries into the unincorporated county — should apply outside of the urban service area. I am writing to expand on my answer that consent should be required. The urban service area is an important planning tool which is established in Florida through state statutes and local government comprehensive plans . FS 163 .3186(2), which is part of the Florida Community Planning Act, expressly states that "local governments are encouraged to apply innovative planning tools, including . . . urban service area designations . . . . At its most basic level , an urban service area is designated to provide a clear delineation between urban areas where public infrastructure and public services are provided, and rural areas where they are not. However, beyond this basic level , the designation of an urban service area implements many, extremely important policies which are designed to encourage prudent development, on the one hand, and preservation of agricultural and rural lands, on the other. These policies include : • The promotion of residential , commercial and industrial growth in areas where public infrastructure and public services are available, • The discouragement of urban sprawl into traditionally non-urban agricultural or rural areas. The importance of reducing of urban sprawl cannot be overstated in any discussion about urban service areas . In one Florida statute after another, in various contexts, the problems created by urban sprawl are addressed. See, e. g. , FS 163 .2511 (" . . . reduction of future urban sprawl . . . ") ; FS 163 . 3177 ("the discouragement of urban sprawl", "the future land use element and any amendment to the future land use element shall discourage the proliferation of urban sprawl"; " . . . discouraging urban sprawl . . . "; " . . . the expansion and diversification of these existing centers must be accomplished in a manner that does not promote urban sprawl into surrounding agricultural and rural areas"; and " . . . comprehensive plan to include goals, objectives, and policies that provide for the expansion of rural agricultural industrial centers and discourage urban sprawl in the surrounding areas"); FS 163 . 3245 ( . . . limiting urban sprawl . . . ") ; FS 163 . 3246 (""encourage urban infill at appropriate densities and intensities and separate urban and rural uses and discourage urban sprawl . . . ) ; and FS 1013 . 33 (" . . . in order to encourage central city redevelopment and the efficient use of infrastructure and to discourage uncontrolled urban sprawl"), • The preservation of traditionally non-urban agricultural or rural areas that would be threatened by development beyond the urban service area,