TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County staff intend to travel to Poland as soon as next month in an attempt to secure Apalachee Regional Park as the permanent home of the World Cross Country Championships.
Staff proposed traveling to Poland using tourism dollars, according to agenda materials posted ahead of the Leon County Commission’s regular board meeting on February 10.
High level county leaders, including the chief executive and chairman, would travel to Poland in March of 2026 if World Athletics locks in the date. Travel permission is contingent on a vote from the majority of the commission.
“Staff is coordinating with World Athletics to schedule a formal in-person leadership meeting with the World Athletics team during an upcoming meeting, currently anticipated to align with the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland in March 2026,” a staff member wrote in the materials.
While the Cross Country Championships are not scheduled again until 2029, staff wrote Leon County is open to an event in 2027 especially if it strengthens the idea of returning cross country to the Olympics.
“The objective in these discussions is to explore a high-level framework that could position Apalachee Regional Park as the permanent home of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships,” a staff member wrote. “At this stage, staff is not seeking approval of any binding multi-year commitment…”
The agenda item does not lay out how much the trip would cost, though staff do recommend authorizing the trip. In the alternative, the commission could accept the status report but decline to send a delegation overseas.
Leon County Chair Christian Caban has been a vocal supporter of securing every future World Athletics Cross Country Championship, though a review of the event’s history shows it has rarely, if ever, occurred at the same site more than once.
In fact, before the championships on the outskirts of Tallahassee, the event hadn’t been hosted in the U.S. for about three decades. County staff projected more than $4 million in economic impact from the event, though final calculations are underway,
The championships did see some controversy, as certain athletes were denied visas to compete on U.S. soil. While the World Athletics president said the denials would not prevent America from hosting again, he also declined to detail the extent of the visa issues.
More Tallahassee news:
Leon County owns 529 parcels
Also in the agenda materials for next week’s meeting: a report on all the land Leon County owns. According to those documents, the county owns 2,178,340 square feet of property.
“These buildings are located on 51 parcels that support County or County-supported functions such as the Historic Amtrak Station, Library, Public Health Offices, Public Safety Complex, Public Works, Solid Waste Collection sites, etc,” a county staff member wrote in the status report.
According to the report, Leon County has three properties it leases that generate money: The Leon County Annex, the Lake JacksonTown Center, and Cross Creek Square.
The local government makes the most revenue from the annex, which earned $1,708,507 in 2025. The Lake Jackson property earned just under $400,000 and Cross Creek Square just under $160,000.
In terms of surplus lands, county staff said 22 parcels were designated as surplus by the end of last year. However, staff also wrote that 13 of the 22 parcels had “little to no market value.”
Since President Donald Trump assumed office a second time, some Leon County Commissioners like Commissioner Bill Proctor have moved aggressively to attempt and acquire more lands from the federal government.
According to Proctor, the national forest and other federal lands could be used for affordable housing. The status report does not indicate the county government acquired any federal lands last year, though it did acquire some other parcels for which the taxes went unpaid for years.
Federal lands have also been floated as a possible location for hurricane shelters.
County staff say anti-loitering ordinance isn’t needed
In another agenda item, the Leon County Office of Human Services and Community Partnerships does not recommend the county commission pass an anti-loitering ordinance.
County staff wrote that state laws already prevent loitering and trespassing, though general vagrancy laws have been declared unconstitutional by the courts.
“As a result, law enforcement has the statutory and constitutional authority to enforce the laws prohibiting loitering and trespassing in the community including on private property,” a county staffer wrote. “Therefore, a local ordinance prohibiting loitering would not be required.”
The report goes on to highlight the county’s funding of deputies geared towards combatting homelessness, anti-soliciting laws passed at the local level and a county ban on panhandling in the median.
However, the county’s ordinance on panhandling in medians is more lax than the City of Tallahassee’s. Inside city limits, panhandling is prohibited from the sidewalk, not just the median.
According to the status report, Leon County has invested $8 million to address homelessness including “in the areas of street outreach, emergency homeless shelters, and HOST deputies over the past five years.
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