Ocala City Planning Meeting - April 20, 2026: Special Exception 26-0004 Approved

The Ocala City Planning Board met on April 20, 2026, to consider Special Exception 26-0004, an application by Ocala Extras LLC to develop a six-unit multifamily residential building within the B2A limited community business district at 3318 NE 7th Lane. After staff recommended denial due to parking and fire access deficiencies, the applicant presented modifications. Following public testimony and board deliberation, the board approved the special exception with modified conditions.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of the minutes from the March 16, 2026 meeting was moved, seconded, and carried unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Jeff Rombach (neighbor at 3318 NE 7th Lane) expressed concerns about privacy invasion from existing second-floor windows in an adjacent building, noise from the adjacent church, and past tenant behavior. He noted he had planted shrubs to regain privacy.

Discussion Items

• Staff Presentation: Indira Madre Varen of Growth Management presented the application. The property has two existing multi-use commercial buildings (total ~13,240 sq ft). The proposed six-unit multifamily building would be located in an existing parking area. Key issues included: a 15-foot building separation that does not accommodate two-way emergency vehicle access; deficient parking stall depths (11.9 ft vs. required 19 ft); and a total parking deficit of one space (50 provided vs. 51 required). Staff recommended denial but listed eight conditions if approved.
• Applicant Response: David Telman (Tillman Associates) represented the applicant. He argued that the rear cross-access easement already exists (showing a 14-foot ingress/egress easement on a survey), that converting nine spaces to parallel parking would meet dimensional standards and reduce total spaces to 46 (within the 10% administrative variance), and that the site is rarely full. He requested removal or modification of conditions 3, 4, 5, and 8.
• Board Questions & Staff Clarification: Planning director Aubrey Hale confirmed that the 10% parking variance could be handled administratively. The cross-access easement was verified, alleviating the fire access concern. The board discussed modifying conditions to apply only to new construction and requiring pedestrian pathways instead of sidewalks.

Key Outcomes

• Motion: The board moved to approve Special Exception 26-0004 with the following modifications to staff's recommended conditions:
  1. Condition 3: All new parking spaces and driveway access aisles must meet dimensional requirements (existing non-compliant areas grandfathered).
  2. Condition 4: Cross-access requirement satisfied by existing recorded easement.
  3. Condition 5: Retained as-is (51 spaces required), with allowance for administrative variance if under 10% reduction.
  4. Condition 8: Changed from 'internal sidewalks' to 'internal pedestrian pathways (striped crosswalks)'.
  5. Added condition: The area between buildings one and two shall be designated as a 'No Parking' zone with signage and/or striping.
• Vote: The motion passed 7-0 (all present: Maliver, Magamall, Jurgens, White, Gibbs, Hartley; Carrasco absent).
• Next Steps: The site plan approval meeting all conditions must be obtained within two years, or the special exception expires.