In honor of this important designation made annually by the Marion County Commission, Horse Farms Forever® is pleased to highlight some of the recent successes to help protect our horse farms, agricultural land, and the Farmland Preservation Area.
Your support helped us achieve one of the most important wins: the steadfast commitment from the Marion County Commission to help protect the nearly 200,000-acre Farmland Preservation Area. Because of the broad spectrum of support from the equine and business community, the importance of the Farmland Preservation Area to our economy, culture and way of life has been raised.
With the growth and development pressures increasing daily, your support is even more important. Horse Farms Forever is your voice at the County Commission meetings to help protect our horse farms, which are the backbone of our equine industry.
Here are two examples of our successful efforts to protect farmland: 1) HFF Comprehensive Plan Text Amendment and 2) RaceTrac Truck Stop.
Help Protect Our Farms - Join Today!
Every contribution will go twice as far! A generous friend of Horse Farms Forever has stepped up to match all donations—dollar for dollar!
Together, we can help preserve the character and culture that horses, horse farms and the Farmland Preservation Area make unique to Marion County.
To protect our farms, we must plan for growth. The county’s Comprehensive Plan is the key document that helps plan, manage, and balance growth with protecting our farms and natural resources. While there has been tremendous growth, the majority of that growth has occurred within the county’s 122,000-acre Urban Growth Boundary.
Since our founding in 2018, Horse Farms Forever has attended thousands of hours of Commission meetings. We have watched their discussions about how to manage the growth and infrastructure needs, which is challenging, given the recent population growth by over 100,000 new residents.
We attend nearly every County Commission meeting to monitor development applications and to participate in the updates to the Comprehensive Plan to ensure that the Farmland Preservation Area is protected from urban development.
We thank the County Commissioners for the time they are taking to update the Comprehensive Plan to help preserve our horse farms, agricultural land, and the Farmland Preservation Area.
Preserving our farms will take a united effort, with support from both elected officials and landowners. Please join us.
To protect our farms, we must plan for growth. The County’s Comprehensive Plan is the key document that helps plan, manage, and balance growth with protecting our farms and natural resources. While there has been tremendous growth, the majority of that growth has occurred within the County’s 122,000-acre Urban Growth Boundary.
The County is currently updating the Comprehensive Plan through a series of workshops. Horse Farms Forever has attended over a dozen of these workshops and we are happy to report that all five Commissioners strongly support the protection of Rural Neighborhoods and the Rural Areas by expanding setbacks and developing step down zoning.
Since our founding in 2018, Horse Farms Forever has attended thousands of hours of Commission meetings. We have watched their discussions about how to manage the growth and infrastructure needs, which is challenging, given the recent population growth by over 100,000 new residents.
We thank the Commissioners for the time they are taking to update the County’s Comprehensive Plan to help preserve our horse farms, agricultural land, and the Farmland Preservation Area.
Preserving our farms will take a united effort, with support from both elected officials and landowners, please join us.
Saturday, April 12 from 9AM to 3PM
Stirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc.
4246 W Hwy 318, Citra, FL
