Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges Marion County to review stump-processing operation, cites permitting record and sawdust migration
Summary
A resident urged Marion County to re-examine a stump-processing site in Ocala, saying a 1987 special-exception decision included conditions limiting third-party dumping and requiring security that were omitted from later action forms; county staff said permitting and enforcement for class 3 landfill operations rest with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
At a Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting a resident raised a detailed, document-backed complaint about a nearby stump-processing operation and urged county oversight after what he described as years of local impact.
Jason Martin said the site at 5451 Southeast Merrickamp Road has caused sawdust to migrate onto neighboring properties and that the property's 1987 Board of Adjustment action included explicit stipulations limiting material to the landowner's construction debris and requiring security gates and fencing. Martin said a completed action form adopted by county staff omitted those stipulations, which he argued enabled third-party dumping and the site's expansion since 2018. "Fact, the Stump Dump property does hold a special exception permit from 12/07/1987 allowing the use as a class 3 landfill," Martin said, adding he has copies of county and FDEP documents he obtained through public records requests.
Martin urged the board to reconcile Code Enforcement records and minutes, noting that a 2022 county code-enforcement investigation recommended the site apply for a new special-use permit if it were to continue third-party dumping. He told commissioners he had obtained a copy of the 2022 investigation and said county staff met with the site owner in 2022.
Commissioners and staff responded that land-use designation is the county's role but that permitting and enforcement for class 3 land operations fall to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. One commissioner said the county's position was that the property had a permissible use and that, absent a county attorney or DEP ruling that the operation was illegal, county staff would not unilaterally cease its operation. The chair directed county staff to review the documents and to confer with the county attorney.
The exchange underscored the practical division of responsibilities: Martin pressed for county action on what he described as a long-running intrusion of sawdust and dumping, while staff emphasized DEP's regulatory role for landfill-class activities. Commissioners asked staff to verify the permitting history and to follow up with legal counsel on next steps.
The board did not take formal enforcement action at the meeting; staff indicated they would review the records and provide advice on possible next steps.
