Board approves SECO service center near 475A with added landscape, fencing and visibility conditions

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a rezoning and a special-use permit for Sumter Electric Cooperative to build a new operations and equipment yard near County Road 475A, a gateway corridor to the Florida Horse Park.

The board approved two companion items: a rezoning for a portion of the parcel to Community Business (B-2) and a special-use permit to allow an electrical utility service yard with outdoor material storage and laydown areas across approximately 79.2 acres. Chris Rising of Marion County Growth Services told the board the site is in the county’s employment-center future land-use designation and lies within the County Road 475A visual enhancement overlay.

Why it matters: SECO said the new facility would be a modern base for about 45 frontline employees now and plans for roughly 89 employees over the next decade. The cooperative argued a county-limited utility yard is less traffic- and land-use intensive than many possible commercial developments that could occur under the current comprehensive-plan employment-center designation. SECO’s team said the project represents a significant capital investment and includes enhanced landscaping and setbacks designed to protect nearby rural and equine uses.

What was proposed: SECO’s application covers three contiguous parcels totaling roughly 79.2 acres; the rezoning request applied to the northern parcel (about 39.2 acres) to align zoning with the employment-center land use. The conceptual site plan presented by the applicant shows an office and warehouse complex set back hundreds of feet from adjacent property lines, paved operational areas, stabilized grass staging areas, and separated gated access points for public/employee access and for equipment. SECO and its consultants told the board they will preserve large portions of existing tree cover and install enhanced buffer plantings: larger canopy trees at planting (14–16 feet), understory and ornamental plantings, a 3-foot berm and decorative three-board fencing along 475A with a landscaped area, and an eight-foot opaque security fence interior to the site.

Conditions and modifications: County staff initially recommended denial of the special-use permit over concerns about visibility of outdoor storage, dust, noise and the site’s scale within the overlay. SECO revised its plan and agreed to multiple conditions. The board approved the special-use permit with staff-drafted conditions and two modifications the applicant requested: (1) SECO may use Bahia grass (an alternate allowed turf) on some open areas; and (2) along the I‑75 frontage the applicant may use a three-board fence with a landscaped 15‑foot buffer and a chain-link security fence set back behind the plantings rather than an eight‑foot opaque metal fence. The board also accepted a proffer that no laydown materials will be visible from adjacent external properties. Other conditions approved by the board include parcel consolidation, dark‑sky lighting requirements, paved operational areas, decanted staging areas and minimum landscape installations prior to operations.

Support and opposition: The Florida Horse Park’s executive director, Jason Reynolds, and Horse Farms Forever’s conservation director, Busy Shires, praised SECO’s outreach and said the revised plan and added buffers fit the corridor. Several nearby property owners told the board they had been involved in community discussions and supported the revised plan. Staff and the applicant discussed traffic studies and how the cooperative’s proposed use would generate far fewer daily trips than some commercial programs that could occur by-right under the existing future land use.

Vote: The board voted unanimously to approve the rezoning and, separately, the special-use permit subject to the conditions and the two applicant-requested modifications.