OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – At its meeting on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners unanimously denied a mediated settlement agreement that would have returned a previously rejected special use permit for a food-waste composting operation to a new quasi-judicial hearing. A quasi-judicial hearing is a formal local government proceeding, such as one on a special use permit, in which the board acts like a court, basing its decision solely on evidence and testimony presented under established legal standards rather than on general legislative policy preferences.
The agreement involved WRR of Marion County, LLC; Gaston Tree Debris Recycling, L.L.C.; Levin Gaston; William G. Gaston III; and Denali Water Solutions LLC. In June, the board denied their application to add de-packaging equipment so the existing vegetative debris composting facility at 8510 and 8548 NW Gainesville Road could process expired grocery store food waste. The applicants later sought relief under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act (FLUEDRA). A special magistrate facilitated mediation, producing the settlement the board considered Tuesday.
County Attorney Matthew Minter explained that rejecting the settlement would send the matter back to the special magistrate for an evidentiary hearing. The magistrate would determine whether the board’s June denial was unreasonable or denied the applicants’ reasonable, investment-backed expectations. A finding adverse to the county could support a subsequent claim for damages under the Bert J. Harris, Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act. Separate from constitutional takings claims, that statute allows property owners to seek compensation when a governmental action “inordinately burdens” an existing use or vested right by permanently preventing the owner from attaining reasonable investment-backed expectations or by imposing a disproportionate share of a public burden. According to Minter, the applicants also have a pending petition for a writ of certiorari in the circuit court that has been held in abeyance.
Pastor Martin Smith of Progressive Union Missionary Baptist Church in Reddick, speaking on behalf of the church’s congregation of 150 years and nearby Fessenden Elementary School, asked the board to “stand firm to your commitment” and “continue to support us in this effort to keep this environmental problem out of our community.” He referenced past issues with smoke affecting the church and school and said allowing the facility would be “hazardous to our community and to our ecosystem.”
Busy Shires told commissioners the applicant still proposed adding “thousands of gallons of slurryed food waste to uncovered and unlined windrows” located within or on the boundary of secondary and primary springs protection zones adopted in 2005 because of the area’s porous limestone geology. She noted that nearby farms and families rely on private wells, as do more than 430 children at historic Fessenden Elementary, and asked the board to deny the settlement because those residents and students “deserve to have clean water.”
Bernie Little, a business partner with Fessenden Elementary through the Public Education Foundation who is working with donors on outdoor playground improvements, said a rehearing would set a bad precedent. “The only one that benefits is the applicant,” he said. “The application was fully vetted at a long public hearing in June, and after all the facts were considered, was denied unanimously. Those facts haven’t changed.” He added that a special use permit is “called special for a reason” and does not fulfill a community need or serve the public interest. “Please don’t let the threat of litigation cause you to pass this on to the new incoming commissioners,” he said, describing the offered conditions as “smoke and mirrors” and “putting lipstick on a pig.”
Other speakers, including Tracy and Robert Walker, focused on odors from outdoor windrows, arguing that proposed measures were reactive rather than preventive and that rotting food in Florida heat would create nuisances that nearby homes, farms, businesses, churches, and the school should not have to endure. Daniel Wilson, who owns property across the street and employs 13 people, said he had heard “no remedy or solution for the effect of the smell” or for rodents and flies, and that the operation could force him to send employees home. He added that if he were a school board member or superintendent, “I’d be right here… Voicing against this with Fessenden Elementary as close as they [are] to this process,” and that he did not believe a judge or jury would allow it so close to an elementary school.
Commissioner Michelle Stone moved to deny the settlement, saying she was not inclined to give the application another special hearing. Commissioner Kathy Bryant seconded. During discussion, commissioners referenced past problems with other composting operations and said the applicants had not met the burden of proof required for a special use permit. Bryant added that the situation set a troubling precedent: “Every time someone gets denied, they threaten to sue us. And quite frankly, I’m over it.”
The motion passed unanimously. The dispute is expected to return to the special magistrate process.
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