A New Kind of Auto-Parts Store Is Testing Ocala's Zoning Rules on Maricamp Road

Picture an auto-parts store with a small retail area and, behind it, a warehouse several times the size, where a fleet of compact SUVs loads up deliveries for customers and repair shops. Ocala's zoning code, it turns out, has no box for that. A company that owns land on SE Maricamp Road wants to build one anyway, and rather than squeeze it into the wrong category, it asked the city to create a new one.

The request went before the city's Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, as an applicant-initiated change to the City Code of Ordinances (case COD26-0005, legislative file 2027-0234). The city's meeting page and agenda packet name the applicant as Amprop Ventures Maricamp, LLC, represented by Gregory Lee of the law firm Baker Hostetler. The city's documents do not name a retail brand for the store, and neither do we.

What the company wants to build

According to the staff report, the applicant owns a parcel on SE Maricamp Road (parcel 29850-104-02) in the B-2 Community Business zoning district, where it intends to develop an "auto supply, retail, and delivery business." The company first asked city staff whether its model, which it calls a "Routed Mega-Hub," would be allowed in B-2 as is.

As the applicant described it to the city, a Routed Mega-Hub occupies roughly 30,000 to 40,000 square feet. About 6,000 square feet is retail space; the rest is warehouse. The site would also hold about five to 15 passenger vehicles, typically compact SUVs, used to deliver parts to retail customers, to auto service and repair businesses and to other auto-parts stores.

Why the old categories did not fit

City staff concluded the model is not quite an auto-parts store and not quite a distribution warehouse. The staff report offers two yardsticks: existing auto-supply stores in Ocala generally run 7,000 to 10,000 square feet, while the AutoZone distribution facility on NW 35th Street exceeds 400,000 square feet. The Maricamp proposal lands in between, and the code, staff said, "does not provide an appropriate classification" for it in B-2.

The rule the company is asking for

The ordinance would add a new use called "Retail and Delivery Services." It covers general retail businesses that also deliver goods using two-axle vehicles, in tenant spaces of 40,000 square feet or less, with at least 10 percent of the space devoted to retail and no more than 90 percent to storage.

It would be allowed only in B-2, and only as a special exception, which means a business cannot simply build it; it needs a public hearing first. Staff pointed to that hearing as a safeguard, noting that B-2 land is mostly found along arterial roads that suit delivery traffic, and that the hearing gives neighbors a chance to raise compatibility concerns.

One more piece may matter for a building this size: the ordinance would let the Board of Adjustment consider a request to reduce required parking at the same hearing as the special exception, instead of sending it to the Planning and Zoning Commission separately. The board could modify parking and loading requirements after reviewing a parking study and staff recommendations, and any appeal of its decision would go to the City Council.

What happens next

Staff found the amendment consistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan and land development regulations, and listed approve with changes, table or deny as the options for the commission. As of Nov. 10, the city's meeting page said the Nov. 9 minutes had not been finalized and that actions taken on legislation were not yet available, so we cannot report how the commission voted. The ordinance still needs City Council approval; no council hearing date appeared in the packet we reviewed. Check the city's Legistar page for the minutes.

Approval of the code change would not by itself approve a store. The company would still have to apply for the special exception on its Maricamp parcel and go through a public hearing. For other projects moving through city hearings, see our November 2026 public meetings calendar.

Source: City of Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission agenda and staff report (Growth Management, presented by David Sablan), meeting of Nov. 9, 2026, read Nov. 10, 2026.