Commissioners deny rezoning for Kenway Rockwood Grove after neighbors raise landfill contamination, well‑water and safety concerns

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously April 15 to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed 73 single‑family lots (Kenway Rockwood Grove) on land that includes a closed construction and debris landfill commonly called Castle Rock.

Lede: Commissioners cited public‑safety and information‑gaps concerns raised during a lengthy public record — in particular the site’s history of unpermitted dumping and the absence of completed soil‑and‑groundwater permitting for reuse — as grounds to deny the request for PUD zoning.

Nut graf: County staff, the applicant’s engineer and the county engineer discussed engineering, monitoring and drainage plans the applicant said would be used to make the site suitable for development. But multiple nearby residents, veterinarians with a hospital adjacento the site and an environmental attorney argued the record does not yet include the necessary soil testing, DEP approvals for excavation or clear demonstration the former landfill was remediated to a standard suitable for homes. The board denied the rezoning.

What happened at the meeting: Growth‑services staff summarized the application, noting the developer proposed 73 detached homes with on‑site amenities and said the site had a previously completed DEP closure plan and a series of groundwater monitoring reports. The applicant’s engineer described how homes and roads would be built to meet standard road, foundation and stormwater engineering requirements and said the site passed DEP closure and monitoring procedures.

Neighbors and Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital personnel strongly objected. Multiple witnesses and affidavits described repeated unlawful disposal at Castle Rock in the 1990s and 2000s — tires, paint cans, refrigeration units, drums, automotive fluids and other materials — and cited DEP enforcement records and photos documenting violations. Neighbors said the landfill was deep in places, that fill included unacceptable materials and that local wells and public health are a concern. An environmental attorney for nearby landowners said state administrative rules require consultation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection before excavation or development of closed landfill sites and argued that consultation and any required DEP approvals should be in hand before the county grants zoning entitlements.

The applicant said the landfill had been closed under a 2017 DEP closure plan and that the developer will perform required testing and engineered importation and compaction where needed; the engineer said the project team would perform geotechnical testing and build road subgrades and house footings to meet county engineering standards. But commissioners said the public record contained inadequate, site‑specific soil sampling and DEP permits for excavation and disposal to support immediate rezoning and vested rights. Commissioner comments prioritized neighborhood safety, clear DEP approvals for reuse, and that the county should not grant entitlements where core environmental questions remained open.

Outcome and next steps: The board denied the rezoning application unanimously. Commissioners and staff said an applicant may return with the necessary DEP consultation, site testing and a clearer remediation/excavation plan; any later application would need to address groundwater and soil testing and provide the DEP approvals that staff and counsel identified as necessary to support development on a closed landfill.

Ending: The decision leaves the property in its current zoning (agricultural) and requires the applicant to complete environmental and permitting steps before seeking comparable zoning in the future.