OCALA, FL (352today.com) – At its August 18, 2026, meeting, Marion Oaks residents told the Marion County Commission that what began as occasional off-road vehicle activity has escalated into a near-constant disruption of their neighborhoods, complete with late-night noise, litter, verbal harassment and growing safety risks.
During public comment, three residents, including one who said they called the Marion County Sheriff’s Office more than 80 times in eight months, described their neighborhoods as being treated like an unauthorized trail system. They urged commissioners to press for physical barriers, stronger enforcement and coordination with Duke Energy and the Deltona Corporation.
Darrell King said his backyard abuts a Duke Energy access road along a power-line easement. From the day he and his wife moved in, dirt bikes and ATVs have idled and ridden behind their home.
“My property actually shares the easement with the property that’s been leased to Duke Energy for the power lines, and my backyard actually abuts their access road,” said King. “And from move-in day, we’ve had to deal with the dirt bikes and ATVs that idle and drive behind our house. And initially, I tried to, you know, respectfully alert them to it being private property, but we quickly realized that was a fruitless endeavor, just based on the sheer amount of people that drive back there, and then you know, eventually they begin being irate and yelling obscenities at me and throwing trash in my yard. So, we began calling the police pretty much on a regular basis.”
“I believe so far we have around 88 calls to the police since then,” he continued. “And, just to show how prolific and popular it is to ride, we found a Facebook forum that was centered around Marin Oaks ATV riding, and I have just a few comments,”
King read some of the Facebook comments out loud to the board.
“When asked about ‘where were the trails?’ I have a few comments here from people. Karina said, ‘everywhere in Marion Oaks, mostly in the back.’
“Mary says, ‘I have a trail next to my house. I believe it connects all the way to power lines. You have to cross three roads.’
“Rebecca says, ‘There must be a trail somewhere since four ATVs were out this week. If I get one, I can ride mine on the boulevard and others.’
“Phil says, ‘Go to the power lines, hang a right, and follow the trail’.
“Frank says, ‘The Highlands is where the trails are by the recycling center.’
“Another person says, ‘Ride Marion Oaks. Stop being Karens. Have fun. Enjoy your life.’
“James says, ‘mostly the power lines.'”
“Amanda says, ‘in Florida Highlands, we have a mud hole,’ which refers to the area in front of the recycling center. ‘There’s a lot of off-roading vehicles over here, especially the weekends.’ This last [comment] says, ‘no official trails in Marion Oaks, just the power line access trail that these ATVs use,'” King said.
“It’s annoying late at night, especially when they blast their music. It’s a shame that the sheriff’s department does nothing to curb this nuisance. It’s been ignored for so long, it has become the norm now. So, I just want to just ask that we somehow hold the owner of that property responsible for protecting that property and ensuring that that property isn’t used for these illegal activities.”
King’s wife Aubrey said that when she and her family bought their first home in the community last December, after her family had lived in Marion Oaks for 20 years, they expected a quiet place to invest. Instead, she said, the neighborhood has become “an unauthorized off-road course for recreational vehicles.”
“On a regular basis, residents deal with trespassing, late-night noise, littering, and verbal harassment from individuals riding illegally near our properties,” she said. “Many of our neighbors are deeply impacted by this situation but choose to stay silent out of frustration or fear of confrontation.
“On a regular basis, residents deal with trespassing, late-night noise, littering, and verbal harassment from individuals riding illegally near our property. Many of our neighbors are deeply impacted by this situation but choose to stay silent out of frustration or fear of confrontation.”
She identified two primary gathering points: the “mud pit” at the Highlands next to the Florida Recycling Center, and Gordon Lake in the back of Marion Oaks. Online groups and some local businesses, she said, actively promote the residential areas as a public trail system. She has compiled video and screenshots documenting the activity.
“Phone calls alone can’t resolve the issue of this scale. It requires structural intervention,” Aubrey King said. She asked the commission and sheriff’s office to work directly with Duke Energy and the Deltona Corporation to install physical barriers blocking access to the hubs and service roads, and to hold riders accountable.
John King, another family member and an employee with the City of Ocala, framed the problem as both a quality-of-life issue and a serious public-safety and infrastructure risk. He said riders routinely cut through utility easements, perform donuts and stunts, and travel along roads beneath large transmission towers.
“What used to be just occasional riders has escalated into frequent and disturbing activity,” he said. “Nights and weekends, riders frequently cut through the easements. They perform donuts and… acrobatic stunts. I watch them, even go up and down the utility roads that have these huge transmission distribution towers, and they, if one crashed or collided with one of those towers, would have been there for decades, the entire electric grid could go down. So, it is a really serious concern that this is controlled in some type of way.”
He cited multiple fatal ATV crashes in Marion County in recent years, including deaths in Marion Oaks, and warned that the activity continues on roads where it is prohibited. He also noted that the unfinished portion of a road extension and even the local golf course are being used as riding areas.
John King said he has contacted MCSO, Deltona Corporation, Duke Energy and the Marion Oaks Civic Association without lasting results. He asked commissioners to consider stronger ordinances, fencing and barriers, especially around electric infrastructure, greater sheriff presence at known congregation points, surveillance, and a public education campaign about the prohibitions and penalties.
“I’d like to talk about property ownership. They don’t belong on the property because it’s not theirs. It’s private property. It’s owned commercially, or it’s county-owned property,” he said. “I flagged down and talked to one of the ATV drivers. Long story short, he told me that ‘no one’s using that property, but why can’t I use it?’ I told him, ‘Do you see the trespassing sign there? You don’t belong there. It’s not your property,’ and people just don’t get it.
“These properties should not be used for recreational activity, and although we have signage there, they still trespass it. They just don’t care about law and order, or anything else, especially the rights of others to pursue peace. So today I’m before you because I have no place else to go. I’ve contacted the sheriff’s department, Deltona Corporation, Duke, and Marion Oaks Civic Association. I talked to [Marion Oaks Civic Association] President Charbonneau, and she’s even discussed her frustration because the golf course is used for an ATV playground.”
Commissioner Kathy Bryant responded that the matter falls primarily under law enforcement.
“This is a law enforcement issue,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any ordinances that we can pass that will change any of that, but maybe asking them to have a coordinated effort out there to start cracking down on some of that, as well as the public education component of it, because Mr. King is right. Unfortunately, people don’t care.”
Bryant said she would reach out to Sheriff Billy Woods and noted the county has technology that could be deployed. Another commissioner asked John King to provide specific locations so the sheriff’s office could be directed to them.
Residents left the meeting pressing for more than repeated 911 calls: physical barriers on the Duke Energy corridors and at the mud pit and Gordon Lake, accountability for property owners whose land is being used, and a coordinated push that treats the activity as the widespread trespassing and safety problem they say it has become.