Submitted By: David Sablan
presenter
Presentation By: Aubrey Hale
end
Department: Growth Management
FORMAL TITLE:
title
Waiver of the one-year wait period required by Section 122-134 to allow for the submittal of a rezoning application, concerning the recently approved Mockingbird Ridge PD, approximately 283.55 acres
end
OCALA’S RELEVANT STRATEGIC GOALS:
Quality of Place, Economic Hub
PROOF OF PUBLICATION:
N/A
body
BACKGROUND:
Petitioners/Property Owners: Mockingbird Ridge, LLC and Flyover Ocala, LLC
Agents: Richard Busche, P.E., Kimley Horn & Assoc. and Mike Radcliffe, Radcliffe Engineering.
Purpose of Waiver Request:
The subject property (283.55 acres) was approved for a PD rezoning on May 5, 2026, via Ordinance 2026-14. The property owner has since sold a portion of the PD (108.74 acres) to another developer, Flyover Ocala, LLC. Flyover Ocala, LLC wants to develop the property differently than the currently approved PD plan. As a result, the property requires rezoning. However, City of Ocala Land Development Regulations, Section 122-134, restricts consideration of further rezoning of a property for one year. This Section further provides that City Council may waive the one-year wait period.
The property owners, Mockingbird Ridge, LLC, and Flyover Ocala, LLC, request a City Council waiver of the one-year wait period to allow rezoning of the subject properties.
Key Information:
• City Council approved the Mockingbird Ridge PD zoning on May 5, 2026.
• Flyover Ocala, LLC seeks to separate the recently acquired 108.74 acres of the Mockingbird Ridge PD to establish a new and separate PD zoning district with a different PD Plan and Standards Book.
• A Community Development District (CDD) was established on May 19, 2026, for the western 169.31 acres of the 283.55-acre original project area. Amending the Mockingbird Ridge PD zoning will have no direct impact on the CDD.
• The current owners of all properties within the Mockingbird Ridge PD, Flyover Ocala, LLC and Mockingbird Ridge, LLC, have submitted a waiver request to allow for a rezoning request to be considered before May 5, 2027.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
• The property was rezoned on May 5, 2026, and portions of the property are under review for development.
• The time limit set out in Section 122-134 may be waived by the affirmative vote of three members of the city council.
• The property owners are requesting a waiver of the time limit so they may apply for rezoning to separate PD, Planned Development.
• The waiver and future rezoning request are not anticipated to impact the established CDD.
Staff recommends approval.
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A
PROCUREMENT REVIEW:
N/A
LEGAL REVIEW:
N/A
ALTERNATIVE:
• Table
• Deny