Travolta, Ocala Equestrian Community Prevail In Jumbolair Expansion Protest

Owners of the Jumbolair Aviation Estates fly-in community near Ocala, Florida, home to avid pilot/celebrity John Travolta, have withdrawn a plan to dramatically increase the size of the residency with a proposed rezoning. Travolta had filed a letter to local authorities expressing his opposition to the plan.

The Ocala Star-Banner reported today that the rezoning effort was withdrawn just hours before a scheduled public meeting where large numbers of residents gathered to express their concern for the rezoning effort, which would have increased the residential footprint from some 40 properties to more than 600.

According to the paper, Robert Bull, who purchased Jumbolair in 2021, proposed rezoning a 449.66-acre site from a blend of General Agriculture, Agriculture Estate, Community Business and Light Industrial to the "Planned Unit Development" (PUD) category. As part of a letter to the Marion County Board of County Commissioners, Travolta’s legal team wrote in support of residents opposing the rezoning: “Compared to existing low-density neighborhoods surrounding the area, Bull’s proposal would irrevocably alter the complexion of north central Marion County from a quiet, rural farmland community to a bustling airfield surrounded by dense residential development and commercial development.”