During a meeting this week, city officials briefly discussed a code enforcement violation that led to the end of livestock sales outside of the Ocala Rural King, citing rumors of a goat possibly running onto the roadway and getting hit or killed by a car.
On Tuesday, a local resident spoke to the Ocala City Council about the end of outdoor livestock sales outside of the Rural King located at 2999 NW 10th Street in Ocala.
“I noticed in the digital newspaper today that Rural King had to shut down having animals and vegetables and other things for sale,” said the resident, before suggesting that he had also sold “some roosters out there” himself.
“Well, you broke the law,” said council member Kristen Dreyer. In response, the resident lifted his hands and motioned for handcuffs. The resident went on to say that he thought the city was providing a “tremendous service” for people to be able to buy “rabbits, chickens, turkeys” and other animals.
After drawing a comparison to the weekly farmer’s market that operates at the Ocala Downtown Marketplace and asking whether the sales ceased from misplaced concerns over livestock diseases, the resident was rebuffed by Ocala City Manager Peter Lee.
“We don’t sell live animals, and I think that might be part of the issue,” said Lee, clarifying the difference in the city’s farmer’s market. Lee went on to elaborate one potential danger in allowing the sales to continue.
“I think more in this case, that a goat would run in the road and get hit by a car and killed,” said Lee. “And that may have happened, and may not have, anecdotally. That’s what I’ve heard.”
“Outdoor sales of livestock isn’t permitted,” said Lee. “I don’t think it’s permitted in any district in the city other than agricultural.”
The resident went on to say that we were an “agricultural community and county far longer” than being the “Horse Capital of the World.” He expressed his desire to see livestock sales return to the site someday.
According to a report filed by the code enforcement department, a complaint about the outdoor animal sales occurring at Rural King was received on August 15.
As a result of the complaint, code enforcement officials made multiple site visits and, as of last weekend, sales of outdoor livestock had ended.
The report does not name the individual who made the original complaint, other than to note it was “Admin/upper management.” It does not clarify whether or not the complainant represented Rural King or the city of Ocala.
During a visit to the site on August 30, Ocala-News.com photographed the following signs that were posted around the area where the outdoor livestock sales were formerly held:
The outdoor sales violated section 122-1205 of the city code of ordinances regarding outdoor sales criteria for certain uses in B-4, B-5, and M-1 districts.
The code enforcement report shows that the case is still active and no additional updates have been made since August 26.