Developers of the massive World Equestrian Center want to make it even bigger by adding another 1,000-plus acres to the already approved 3,200-acre footprint of the project in northwest Marion County.

On Monday, however, the Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission balked at part of that plan, voting 4-1 to recommend excluding about 370 acres north of U.S. 27 between Golden Hills Turf and County Club and County Road 225A. The sticking point was its distance from the main WEC property south of U.S. 27. P&Z Commissioner Andy Bonner cast the lone dissenting vote.

The P&Z commission is an advisory board and will send its recommendation to the Marion County Commission. The commission, which is not bound by the recommendation, is scheduled to consider the plan at its May 28 meeting.

The developer, RLR Investments LLC, is led by trucking magnate Larry Roberts, who owns extensive property in Marion County.

Under the proposed plan, the number of homes remains at just below 2,400, but commercial space increases to 4 million square feet, up from 525,000 square feet. Hotel rooms could top out at 1,350, suggesting plans for more hotels besides the 254-room facility currently under construction. Seating at the WEC outdoor stadium would also increase from 10,000 seats to 13,500.

Horse Farms Forever, a local rural land conservation organization, of which Roberts is a member, is against parts of the plan because it infringes on the Farmland Preservation Area (FPA) boundary. About 118 acres of the new land eyed for residential development falls over the FPA boundary to the north of the main WEC development. Another 160 acres to the west also falls in the FPA.

While RLR suggests it would put polo fields on the 160-acre site, representatives fear it will eventually fall to commercial development.

In 2017, the County Commission moved the FPA boundary west to accommodate about 1,000 acres of the WEC project.

The County Commission designated the Farmland Preservation Area in December 2004. It covers much of northwest Marion.

The WEC would feature a sport horse competition area as the centerpiece of an upscale residential community currently planned for about 3,200 acres between Northwest 80th Avenue and Northwest 100th Avenue and U.S. 27 and State Road 40.

The new proposal, introduced on Monday, would add about 1,000 acres, including more than 560 acres north of U.S. 27, 160 acres west of Northwest 100th Avenue and about 52 acres east of Northwest 80th Avenue.

Jimmy Gooding, an attorney representing RLR, presented the plan, which would bring all 4,200 acres under the same umbrella.

“It allows us to continue to develop the WEC without having to come back for everything and having to get separate approvals for movement of items,” Gooding said.

Gooding said they would still be bound by limits in the underlying development agreements.

“It’s not the Wild West. It is governed by the text policy that we have, and it’s covered by our (planned urban development) zoning,” he said.

But P&Z Commission Chairman Greg Lord did not feel it was appropriate to include the property outside of the core project.

“It’d be a lot easier for me to support almost everything you’re asking for if you didn’t have all these outparcels outside of the major portion,” Lord said. “As you ease out to these other parcels, I really feel like they should be addressed individually instead of being put all in there together.”

During the meeting, several people addressed the issue of the FPA intrusion, though the commission did not discuss that issue.

“While we agree the WEC will be a great boon to our horse industry and economy, we believe it needs to be well managed,” said Busy Shires Byerly of the Ocala-based Horse Farms Forever.

The organization is against changing the FPA boundary.

“We believe this land use category is really like a Trojan horse. It sounds and looks good, but if it is approved, it will invade the Farmland Preservation Area with undefined, intensive commercial development,” she said.

Gooding said they hope to work with the group to find a compromise, but ultimately the changes they seek would only affect a tiny portion of the FPA.

“I understand some people think the lines are cut into stone, and they are perfectly entitled to their opinion, but under the county’s comp plan, it contemplates changing the boundary,” he said. “There are circumstances where the applicant can show the need to move the boundary, and we are seeking to move it.”

Separately, the commission unanimously recommended the county move forward with a plan to swap 20 acres on Northwest 80th Avenue, adjacent to the WEC, and currently owned by the Marion County School Board, for other property from RLR.

— Contact Carlos E. Medina at 867-4157 or cmedina@starbanner.com