Lake Sumter
 

Is Lake Sumter a public lake or is it privately owned?

Since the District restricts access to it I would assume they own it.

As I understand it, any navigable water in Florida that has a public access cannot be privately owned.

Call villages customer service and ask, not sure what your interest is, swimming, boating, fishing, I am sure there are restrictions on these activities.

Publicly owned by the Sumter Landing CDD

It is a manmade lake - note - retention pond

There are no public boat ramps and fishing is not allowed unless you book a District charter.

I suspect Lake Sumter is not considered "navigable water" in FL (all states are different).

Typically, you can own the land under a lake and all around it. Assuming there's no water flowing into it from another source, you can essentially "own the lake" and prohibit public access ( believe that's true in FL. In some states, it depends on how large the impoundment is).

I don't know of any states that allows you to "own the water". I'm sure there are some and many make distinctions based on the size of the impoundment. I'm fairly certain in FL you can't "own" the water, merely the land under it.

In the case of Lake Sumter, it's either a Detention Basin or a Retention Basin (part of TV's drainage system) and it seems it would be owned by the CDD (they could certainly give you the answer). I highly doubt the CDD would have allowed the Developer to retain ownership.

Nonsense!

If you look an old pre-Villages map, the lake existed and was named Cherry Lake.

Cherry lake was basically very shallow, and a considerable portion consisted of a peat bog. The bog was mined over the years, well into the 90's; the last group, I believe under the name of "Black Gold". After purchasing, it the Developer finished hollowing out the bog and other areas forming "Lake Sumter". Some of the material dug out was used to build up the Lake Sumter Landing commercial district and residential areas adjacent to the lake. The progression of this can be seen on the large annual aerial maps on display in the Rohan Rec Center. The commercial CDD owns it and all the land immediately around it, and thus it is "privately owned". Only Developer approved/authorized activities are allowed. All structures into the lake are developer owned via the commercial CDD. No private piers, no fishing, except the franchised charter, no boats except for the franchised tours and the Villages dragon boat clubs, no operating of model boats etc. I assume the lake is also part of the area's water management system.

Some quotes:
I suspect
I don’t know
I’m fairly certain
It seems
I highly doubt
Best statement…..seems it would be owned by the CDD (THEY COULD CERTAINLY GIVE YOU TTGE ANSWER)
what does the rest really mean?

I had a friend who put his kayak in the lake and found out quickly you can't do that.

That is correct.

You are correct.

Don't know who "owns" Lake Sumter, but when we first moved here in 2003, it was simply a large puddle ... nowhere near the size it is now.