There is a piece of land in Marion County, on the western edge of the Ocala National Forest, that played an important part in American literary history.
It’s the place where the author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings visited and even lived for a time in the early 1930s as she learned all about Florida natives and the land known as the Big Scrub. Her impressions and experiences were the inspiration behind two of her most celebrated novels: “South Moon Under” and “The Yearling,” which won the Pulitzer Prize.
On July 21, a unanimous Marion County Commission denied a request to erect a 195-foot telecommunication tower on land adjacent to where Rawlings stayed.
The commissioners didn’t cite literary considerations. They said the tower was not compatible with the surrounding land usage and that such a tower would adversely affect the nearby land owners. There was mention, though no expert testimony, that placing the tower there would reduce surrounding owners’ property values.
The people who spoke during the commission meeting, most wearing orange “Marion Roots” T-shirts, certainly agreed with those findings. But they also had Rawlings in mind, and they said so in definitive and sometimes emotional speeches.
Rawlings wrote about what is now called Old Florida. The speakers on July 21 were there to preserve an important part of it.
Doesn’t that rural part of Marion County need better cell service? Perhaps. But 911 service is good, and the residents who spoke did not complain about cell signals.
They did not object to a tower in the area. They just objected to putting one at 18250 NE 160th Avenue Road (Hog Valley Road) in Fort McCoy. That is north of County Road 316 and just east of the Ocklawaha River.
The county’s planning staff recommended approval of the special use permit that is needed to erect the tower. Staff said the usage was consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan, compatible with the surrounding area, and would not adversely affect the public interest. The Marion County Planning & Zoning Commission also recommended approval, 6-0.
The tower request came from Skyway Towers, LLC on behalf of property owners Wayne and Melanie Traina. During the commission meeting, a company representative said they had met or exceeded all the requirements of county code.
The Fiddia family lived on land just south of the parcel where the tower would go. That is where Rawlings visited and lived for a time. Fiddia family descendants still live there today, and a few addressed the commission with emotional appeals.
Sydney Laxton lives on the land that Rawlings visited. Her family has been there for 145 years. She choked up at the end of her speech to the commission.
It “breaks my heart” to think of a communications tower being placed next door, Laxton said.
“Don’t put it in someone’s backyard,” she implored commissioners.
Another speaker read aloud a letter objecting to the tower request from Florence M. Turcotte, the literary manuscripts archivist and curator of the Rawlings papers at the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries.
Vanessa Thomas, who lives nearby, read aloud a passage from “South Moon Under,” in which Rawlings wrote that the stars looked like “silver bees in a swarm.”
Would the county commission allow a 195-foot tower to mar such a view of the night sky?
It would not.
“I don’t think it’s compatible in this particular area,” commission Chairman Carl Zalak said.
Commissioner Craig Curry agreed and made the motion to deny. Commissioner Kathy Bryant seconded the motion, adding that the tower would adversely affect the surrounding properties.
The crowd cheered after the 5-0 vote.
jross@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: No cell tower allowed near land that inspired Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Reporting by Jim Ross, Ocala Star-Banner / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Ross, Ocala Star-Banner | USA TODAY Network
