Rental townhomes in SW Marion County get commission approval ocala.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ocala.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A proposed 207-unit development off Northwest 60th Avenue was denied by the Marion County Commission on Tuesday after an hour-long debate about controlling sprawl in the county s designated urban growth area versus the need to protect farm land.
The commission voted 3-2 to deny development of the land, which is surrounded mostly by 450 acres known as Piney Woods Farm, owned by the family of retired Marion County Circuit Judge Hale Stancil, 75, who pleaded with officials to deny the development.
Commissioners Michelle Stone, who represents that area of the county, and Kathy Bryant voted for approval of the development, which was proposed to be built on the west edge of four-lane Northwest 60th Avenue, across from the Ocala Palms retirement community.
Stancil, 75, has been spending most of his time on the family’s homestead, which has been in his family since 1919. Stancil recently met with the Star-Banner at his property to talk about how Marion County growth is approaching his backyard.
“It was all wooded when I grew up here,” said Stancil, who was born in 1946 at what was once known as Munroe Regional Medical Center. “A new development would change the whole dynamics of this community.”
The proposed development, if approved by the Marion County Commission, would be the first of its kind built in that general area west of Northwest 60th Avenue, across the street from Ocala Palms Golf and Country Club community. That area is known as Stancil’s Corner.