Special master reserves decision on whether Wonderfield Farm events and glamping qualify as agritourism

A Citrus County special master reserved decision after a lengthy hearing over whether activities at Wonderfield Farm and Hubbs Ranch and Grove qualify as agritourism under Florida law and therefore are exempt from local land‑use restrictions.

The hearing, which followed the building-permit stipulation for a related case, focused on whether the property’s glamping sites, overnight stays and public events fall within the state’s agritourism definitions — an outcome with direct implications for whether county land‑use rules governing recreational uses, event venues and lodging apply to the site.

County code compliance officer Brandon Norman told the hearing he documented four distinct glamping/camping sites at the property, hosted or advertised public events including “Wonderfest,” and found material on the property’s website and social‑media profiles showing event promotion, lodging sales on Airbnb/VRBO and references to larger public gatherings. Norman said county inspectors had been refused access at times, requiring use of aerial imagery and social-media captures to document activities.

Representing the property owners, counsel said Wonderfield Farm conducts bona fide agricultural activity on site — citrus trees, a cow-to-calf operation, gardens and “food-forest” plantings — and that the farm’s overnight stays and educational programming are core agritourism activities. Owner and manager Tara Hubbard told the hearing that guests are invited to “go out and harvest their own oranges” and that overnight lodging is often tied to farm programming, tours and volunteer days.

County attorneys and staff countered that several of the property’s public events and lodging practices exceed the agritourism statute’s scope and that, under the Citrus County Land Development Code, the Coastal Lakes and Lakes district (CLMH/CL) does not permit the kind of glamping, event venues with lodging or large public gatherings the county says have occurred without required temporary or special-event permits. County witnesses also raised concerns about sanitation and septic capacity for large events and the potential off‑site impacts of noise and lighting.

At the hearing’s close, Special Master Christian Waugh said the record raised novel questions about how Florida’s agritourism statutes interact with local land‑use regulation. Waugh reserved ruling, said he would place the matter on a future county agenda and indicated he might request written briefs to answer specific legal questions before issuing a decision.

The special master admitted several county exhibits — photographs, notices of violation, web and social‑media captures and video — conditionally in evidence; he reserved ruling on the evidentiary significance of a separate pre‑application packet for an adjacent parcel that the respondents had submitted during an earlier planning-stage meeting. Waugh emphasized that any final determination will turn on statutory interpretation and a factual assessment of how the farm’s activities fit the agritourism definition.