City Council postpones vote on planned development across from Saddlewood Elementary

Aerial view of proposed property [City document]

The Ocala City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, March 15 to postpone approval of a multi-family residential development located on the east side of Southwest 43rd Court in the 3600 block, across from Saddlewood Elementary, until April 19. 

Applicant Catalyst Development Partners II, LLC, a company based out of Georgia, wished to postpone a vote until council had voted on another planned development project on 44th Avenue, according to Fred Roberts, attorney for the applicant.

“We’d like these two [developments] to run parallel or at least for this application to be heard after the other,” said Roberts at the March 15 city council meeting. 

Tuesday was the second of two public hearings. The first public hearing was held on March 1.

Council was considering a development agreement that would approve the 26.63 acres of property for a zoning change to “R-3 Multi-family Residential,” specifically 15 acres to the south of the property, which allows a maximum of 12 units per acre. The remaining 11.63 acres not included in the sale contract will be reconsidered for zoning again in the future.  

The city had anticipated the future land use for this property to be “Medium Intensity/Special District,” which would allow for a minimum of five units per acre and a maximum of 30.

City of Ocala staff expressed concerns about congestion in the area, according to city documents from a Feb. 14 P&Z Commission meeting. They cited concerns that the transportation infrastructure is not currently in place to accommodate the potential level of development, staff determined.

The applicant’s representative suggested that the concerns could be worked out through a custom developer’s agreement that would allow the city to address future development of the property, and require traffic studies and the potential for roadway and intersection improvements such as adding signalization. 

A traffic study is required, said Tye Chighizola during the first public hearing on March 1. Development that creates 100 or more new PM peak hour trips will trigger that requirement. He also mentioned that a roadway must be constructed on approximately 15 of the 26 acres. 

“If that roadway is not constructed, then it would restrict the development of any of this property,” said Chighizola.

Saddlewood Elementary, Liberty Middle School and West Port High School are zoned to serve students who would live on the property. Although all three schools are experiencing persistent localized overcrowding, the city noted that the district has capacity to move students to among its other schools.

David Herlihy, Marion County School District, said on Feb. 14 that the school district does not have the funds ($20 to $30 million project expense) to build another school to remedy the capacity issues. 

The school districts capacity is 85.5% district wide, which is below the state capacity of 87.5%, according to city documents from the P&Z meeting. The school district is responsible for addressing localized overcrowding. 

First Public Hearing Comments 

Kimberly Cindy, who lives in Country Oaks, said on March 1 that the addition of any planned development to that area would burden Saddlewood Elementary especially—a school, she said, that doesn’t have much room to spare.

“We don’t even have enough teachers,” she said. “I have been living in Ocala since 1972, and I want Ocala to remain beautiful. I know it’s going to continue to grow, but I want my property to maintain its value and not put money in the developer’s pocket, who don’t really care about Ocala or its citizens.”

“Why not take all this money and build schools first and then roads?” Cindy asked the council to general public applause. “We need those first before we can build anything further. We’re already packed to the gills.”

For Donna Rodriguez, who lives off Southwest 50th Road in Ocala with her husband and children, traffic was a major concern, particularly traffic on State Road 200. 

“There are three developments going up right around us,” she said. “And it’s insane. The traffic there between 200 and Sam’s Club…you can’t get in and out of there as it is. We have trucks coming through. The roads are not wide enough. The schools are not big enough. There are not enough teachers. Now we’re going to put apartment buildings all around there?”

Cynthia Gennero, who lives in Saddlewood Estates, said that recent growth in the city has made her very concerned.

“I understand growth is imminent, it needs to happen,” she said. “But it does not need to be consolidated to one tiny, little area. Our zip code is being inundated. We don’t have the infrastructure.”

Gennero told the council that is must build the schools first, and then rezone. 

“To rezone beforehand is just irresponsible,” she added. “And we did vote all of you in. You said you would stick up for us. And we’re not happy about this. Nobody wants this building. We want to grow Ocala, but we want to do it properly. This is not the way.”