Marion County planning staff presented redlined changes to the county’s economic element that simplify policy language, remove redundancies with other comprehensive plan elements, and leave specific program design to economic partners such as the county’s community and economic partnership (CEP).

Blair Knighton, planning staff, walked commissioners through deletions and edits intended to avoid duplicating future land use, infrastructure and other elements. Knighton said several policies were struck because they described routine county procedures or directed activities that the CEP or other external partners already perform.

Why it matters: Commissioners emphasized that the county should continue to support economic growth without prescribing operational details for outside partners. Commissioner McLean and others asked how the county would track the effectiveness of incentives and partnerships; commissioners agreed to an annual review of economic partnerships and broader measures of the county’s economic health during the commission’s strategic planning session.

Key points discussed included:
- Consolidation: Staff removed or shortened policies that duplicated the future land use element or described internal administrative processes that the county already performs.
- Role of CEP: Staff proposed language that allows the county to partner with or designate entities (for example, the Ocala Marion Chamber) to facilitate priority industries, while not prescribing how CEP shall operate.
- Agritourism: Commissioners supported a new objective to promote agritourism to protect rural farms. Knighton and staff noted that changes to the land development code (LDC) would be required to allow agritourism uses that exceed state statutory limits (for example, accessory buildings for wedding venues), and any such LDC changes must comply with Florida statutes.
- Performance review: Commissioner Jared (last name not specified) and others urged that if the county establishes incentive programs, it should also regularly review their effectiveness. The board directed staff to schedule an annual review of the county’s economic partnerships and economic health to be considered during the strategic planning session.

Outcome/next steps: Commissioners supported the streamlined redlines and directed staff to add language calling for annual review of partnerships and economic health measures (which staff will calendar around the commission’s strategic plan). Staff will return with consolidated draft language and related LDC items as the comp plan update continues.