Marion County OKs Southeast 70 Third PUD amendment with amended buffer language

On April 14, 2025, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a Planned Unit Development (PUD) amendment for Southeast 70 Third (case 250407ZP), allowing one additional residential lot, relocating amenities and permitting a six‑foot opaque fence along portions of the site instead of the standard vegetative buffers prescribed by the county Land Development Code.

The change was approved amid debate over tree preservation, buffer width and long‑term landscape survivability. County staff had recommended that the project comply with the LDC buffer standards (type C along some edges and type E along the south), but the developer argued existing mature trees and shading made vegetative buffers impractical in places and proposed a fence plus enhanced plantings elsewhere. The board approved the amendment with revised, written conditions that require final buffer and landscape decisions to be approved at the master‑plan stage by the county landscape architect and the Board of County Commissioners.

Growth Services Director Chuck Verdin summarized the request as a PUD amendment for an existing PUD on Southwest 70 Third just south of the Utopia PUD. The…