The first of two public hearings on development standards for solar energy systems in agricultural areas and a proposed amendment for aircraft hangars to allow accessory use in licensed aviation communities were discussed at the Marion County Commission's November 4, 2025 meeting.
OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Board of County Commissioners held the first of two public hearings on solar installations in agricultural zones and a change to the maximum height of aircraft hangars in approved fly-in communities at its November 4, 2025 meeting.
State laws now allow solar systems on agricultural land as a permitted use. Staff proposes some development standards for solar facilities in A-1, agricultural zoning. Additionally, the Marion County Land Development Regulatory Commission proposed a change for aircraft hangars to use accessories in approved entry areas to increase the maximum height, which is currently 30 feet. The LDRC wants it changed to 50 feet, said Kenneth Weyrauch, Marion County deputy director of growth services.
Alternative energy methods
The proposed solar energy facility development standards would require mechanical equipment, including solar panels and similar structures, to be set back 100 feet from all property lines. Solar system inverters and similar devices must face the interior of the site, away from adjacent properties, and be at least 300 feet from the property line due to noise generated.
Some of the declining demands are due to the panels because the infrastructure can cause stormwater to drain a little faster, Weyrauch said. This would allow water to seep away before reaching the property line and also protect adjacent agricultural uses from noise and light.
Setting standards
Marion County Commission Chairwoman Kathy Bryant asked whether the county could now allow solar power under its own A-1 zoning, A-1, due to Florida state law. Bryant and Commissioner Craig Curry expressed some concerns.
“We don't have to list it as a permitted use in A-1, but it's helpful if we have development standards so it's clear what you're going to do if you want to develop Ag solar in Marion County,” Weyrauch said.
“It’s not that we’re off base, it’s just that we don’t have development standards as a permitted agricultural use,” Weyrauch said. “There is some confusion about how to build a solar system in Ag in Marion County.”
Chairman Bryant's question was: If the county does not want this to be a blanket permitted use, can it be done if it is a permitted use in the Florida State Statute?
“As with other things, with ag classifications, if the state law says it's a permitted use, it's a permitted use,” said Marion County Attorney Matthew Minter. “What [Weyrauch] says it would be wise for us to have some standards that would apply rather than just having an open-ended thing.”
Because Florida state statute states that solar energy is a permitted use in A-1 under the Marion County Land Development Code, it is now a permitted use in A-1, Bryant said. The staff is asking the commission for some development standards.
“It's really unfortunate when you talk to other commissioners around the country, they have ruined agricultural land in certain areas between wind and solar energy,” said Carl Zalak, III, vice chairman of the commission. “In other places in Oregon they blew up all over the place and cut down a third of the apple orchards, that doesn't make any sense. I think what we're trying to say is we want to be really careful to get it done, to save our farms. That's the bottom line, to save our farmland, not to convert it into alternative energy.”
Commissioner Michelle Stone asked whether the standards should include provisions for when and whether the facilities will stop operating as solar and how property can be restored to its original condition.
Commissioner Matt McClain noted that the bylaw sets out requirements that cannot exceed the requirements for similar uses and asked staff the question: Do we have any idea what similar uses are involved?
“It's what's allowed in agriculture today, it's very difficult. It would be more like a commercial type of agricultural use if you compared it to anything in our agricultural use today,” Weyrauch said.
Chairman Bryant asked if the county defines something similar to this type of activity, whether in agricultural zoning, whether it is permitted in another zoning, or whether it is solely what is permitted in agricultural zoning?
“I would interpret that as similar use anywhere and in any zoning,” Bryant said.
The standards state that similar agricultural uses are permitted.
“There is still a lot of work to be done on this before our next public hearing,” Bryant said.
Fear of heights
Commissioner Stone questioned why the change from 30 feet to 50 feet for hangar fly-in facilities is even being proposed and had reservations about the change.
The Land Development Regulatory Commission requested this, Weyrauch said. In Agricultural Zoning A-1, the allowable building height is 50 feet, and the LDRC required that the two values be consistent.
Typically, all heights permitted in agricultural use zones are 50 feet, and there is a specific restriction less than that or any other use permitted in that ordinance, said David Tillman, Marion County, chairman of the Land Development Regulatory Commission.
“It’s designed to cover the tail height of your aircraft,” Tillman said. “Some of them are considerably tall. I remember doing a job many years ago for The Villages where the height of the tail required the height of the tail to be about 37 feet high in order for the building to fit. One of the problems they had was that as the plane entered at an angle, the tail rose even higher in the air, so 30 feet isn't necessarily suitable for all types of aircraft.”
Marion County Attorney Minter made it clear to the panel that the airline community was separate from the airport. There are Federal Aviation Administration-approved private airports throughout Marion County. A fly-in community is a residential community with people who have airplanes, and fly-in communities have different regulations than the airport itself.
Commissioner McClain asked if all other buildings were allowed a height of 50 feet, which could be the particular issue with the specific design of an aircraft hangar.
“A fly-in community will attract noise,” Commissioner Stone said. “A barn isn’t necessarily going to attract noise.”
The aircraft itself will not be prevented from entering the community; What will be limited is the ability to keep it in protected coverage from that airport by allowing the additional height, Tillman said.
“I would probably like to protect my agricultural lands a lot more than I would like to see a lot of fly-ins where all of that is available,” Commissioner Stone said.
Changing the landscape
The solar energy systems worried Tillman more. There was not much discussion of the issue at the LDRC meeting and Tillman expressed personal regret for not devoting more time to the issue.
“We do a lot to protect our Farmland Preservation area, and we have introduced a lot more language over time to protect this region,” Tillman said. “And now we're opening up to it. There's an area not too many miles from my farm in Georgia where hundreds of acres of land have been deforested and one solar panel after another has been erected. You'd just as easily have an open pit mine next to you as you have here.”
The solar energy installations item will be brought back to the Commission for its second public hearing on December 2nd. The board expressed no intention to move forward with the “maximum height of the airport hangar” item.