OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Marion County commissioners unanimously approved the final Planned Unit Development (PUD) master plan for Fawn Lake Estates, a 329-home subdivision on 110.14 acres in Silver Springs Shores, at their Tuesday, August 18, 2026, meeting.
The 5-0 vote completed a condition the board attached when it rezoned the site from Single-Family Dwelling (R-1) to PUD on January 20, 2026. Commissioner Kathy Bryant made the motion. Commissioner Craig Curry seconded it.
Tillman & Associates Engineering filed the final plan for owner Midway 65 LLC. Growth Services Deputy Director Kenneth Weyrauch’s staff said the master plan meets the terms of Resolution 26-R-22 and recommended approval with conditions. The Development Review Committee had already cleared the project, leaving only the board’s required final review.
The parcel has no assigned address. It sits north of Bahia Trace and the Lake Diamond and Crystal Lake neighborhoods, west of the Adams Drainage Canal and near Marshall Swamp and the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. The land is outside the Urban Growth Boundary and inside the Primary Springs Protection Overlay Zone. Portions also fall in the Environmentally Sensitive Overlay Zone.
A December 2025 land-use step-down reduced 47.53 acres from High Residential to Medium Residential. Without that change, High Residential rules could have required several hundred more units. About 24.5 acres remain in a recorded conservation easement.
The approved layout is limited to 329 detached single-family homes on 40- and 50-foot-wide lots. Setbacks are 25 feet in front, 15 feet in the rear and 5 feet on the sides, with 15 feet on street sides. Driveways must be long enough for two full-size vehicles without overhanging the sidewalk. Elevations and front setbacks must vary.
Access is limited to two points. The eastern connection is emergency-only, with a substantial metal gate and siren-operated sensors. Single-arm swing gates are banned, and that entrance cannot be used for construction traffic. Those access changes, plus wider buffers along existing homes, were added after neighbors objected to through-traffic and a tighter lot line.
Amenities include a pickleball court, playground, gazebo, recreation field, and walking trail, which must be finished and open by the 50th certificate of occupancy. A property owners’ association or the developer must maintain common areas, buffers, and stormwater.
A January traffic study by Kittelson & Associates, accepted by the county engineer, estimates 3,245 new daily trips. Because the approved plan reduced the number of access points from the original proposal, the Office of the County Engineer will require a new traffic study or a modification to the existing one, according to Stacie Causey, public information specialist for Marion County. That second study will determine the required off-site improvements. The applicant and developer will pay for those improvements or their proportional share.
Causey said the next required step before construction can begin is the subdivision process. Once improvement plans are approved by the Development Review Committee and County Engineer, the applicant can start applying for vertical construction permits. The developer may build up to 50 percent of the homes before the final plat is approved and recorded, but those homes cannot receive certificates of occupancy until the final plat is in place.
Midway 65 LLC is the developer of record. Causey said the company may sell lots to one or more homebuilders; no specific builder has been identified yet. Responsibility for completing the amenities by the 50th certificate of occupancy rests with the developer or the eventual property owners’ association.
County oversight of the conservation easement, springs-protection overlay, and the emergency-only eastern access will continue throughout the subdivision and permitting processes, Causey said. The Office of the County Engineer will specifically monitor the emergency access and respond to any unauthorized use.