Food waste composting special use permit voted down
The Gaston Tree & Debris request to compost human-grade food waste was met with considerable neighborhood opposition.
This drone image shows The Canyons Zipline and Adventure Park in relation to the site of Gaston Tree & Debris Recycling at 8510 and 8548 NW Gainesville Road, Ocala. [Aerial image by Michael Warren/Special to the Ocala Gazette]
In a nearly full auditorium on June 2, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-0 to deny a special use permit that would have allowed grocery store food waste to be processed at the Gaston’s Tree & Debris composting facility on Northwest Gainesville Road. Wood Resource Recovery, LLC, is the parent owner of the compost operation.
Traci Walker, co-owner of the Canyons Zipline & Adventure Park, which is located across the street from the facility, was teary-eyed after the vote and said, “I am surprised. I was terrified coming into this… this is kind of the Wild West for these kinds of operations. There should be a very clear path of regulations to shut down… so we don’t go through what we went through with Compost USA.”
The mid-afternoon hearing started with 40 people sworn in to speak, along with Alexandra Scales, an attorney working for neighborhood interests. Twenty-one people spoke in opposition citing concerns about odor, waste water leaching into the aquifer, chemical pollution from the composting gases, traffic, proximity to Fessenden Elementary School and general incompatibility with the rural area.
Levin Gaston, owner of the Gaston Tree & Debris business, acknowledged neighbor’s attitudes.
“I do understand people’s concerns…,” Gaston said at the podium. “If we can’t do this right, we either have to fix it or shut down.”
While odors were the main cited reason for worries, several speakers addressed the area springs and aquifer being contaminated.
Speaker Gail Stern reminded commissioners about the contamination and lawsuits associated with the Florida State Fire College, just to the north on the same highway, and how fire retardant leached into area wells and springs. Worries about leachate and processed water runoff were mentioned as well.
One speaker quoted the homily, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
Another said, “This is a dump …it will end up in a lawsuit.”
The Gaston operation is located at 8510 and 8548 NW Gainesville Road and is zoned M-2, which allows for the “heaviest use of land, the most intense commercial activity” said county staffer Ken Odom. Nearby commercial operations include the zipline operation, the Ocala Speedway and Woody’s Truck Sales. Directly north is Fessenden Elementary School.
Commission Chair Carl Zalak ultimately couldn’t agree with the permit.
“I’m just not in favor of this particular site,” he said.
Commissioner Matt McClain made it a point during the last minutes of the hearing to remind the audience that the M-2 zoning allowed for a variety of unpleasant commercial operations, including the manufacturing of agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, disinfectants, pesticides and herbicides; rendering of animal or marine fats and oils; manufacturing of batteries; processing of dairy products; lime rock processing and several others.
“You might get something more distasteful than what you’re hearing today… If someone were to come in and use that street zoning, we would not be able to put any special conditions on any of the things. Your best outcome for this property… is a special use permit so that we have some kind of regulatory control,” he said.
Gaston spoke at length about the food waste process. After the hearing, he remained enthused about the de-packaging process, composting and its positive effects on soil health, and said he may consider trying again for an operation at another location.
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