MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – Marion County preservation nonprofit Horse Farms Forever‘s recent challenge to a request by a development company associated with the World Equestrian Center may have lasting implications for the way the county’s Development Review Committee (DRC) operates.

When the county published the agenda ahead of the DRC’s meeting on Monday, June 22, 2026, it included a waiver request from Golden Ocala Equestrian Land WEC Polo Field and Facilities’s contractor, Tillman & Associates Engineering, to allow the approval of building permits prior to the approval of a new Major Site Plan for the World Equestrian Center Ocala’s in-development sports complex.

The new Major Site Plan for WEC’s sports complex indicates that areas previously earmarked for non-equestrian athletic amenities such as soccer fields have since designated as “Polo Field and Facilities.”

(David Tillman, principal for applicant Tillman & Associates Engineering, would say at the June 22 meeting, “Do we plan on using them for soccer if the future PUD (Planned Unit Development) gets approved? Absolutely, we will, no question about it. There will be multi-use fields that will get multi-use for a multitude of uses.”)

HFF attorney, Matthew Brockway, submitted a formal letter prior to the Monday meeting challenging the waiver request, contending the DRC did not have the authority to grant it–despite the body having approved such waiver requests in the past.

At last Monday’s meeting, Assistant County Attorney Linda Blackburn responded to Marion County Director of Growth Services Chuck Varadin’s request for clarification regarding the Brockway letter and the DRC’s authority.

“So, I know it’s been done in the past,” she said. “I’ve had consult with [Marion County Attorney Matthew Minter], and Mr. Brockway is absolutely correct. We are not to sidestep major site plan approval and then allow permits to go forward.”

While this development may have a substantial effect on DRC approvals and processes in the future, it did not impact Golden Ocala’s efforts to move forward–the DRC approved a revised version of the company’s original 2020 Major Site Plan that had been updated to designate the area in question as polo rather than soccer fields, rendering Tillman & Associates’ waiver request moot.