No end in sight for Betz Farm saga

Happy Mother’s Day and a day!

Today’s topic is what I call the "gift that keeps on giving": A story, usually involving local government, that continues to heap weirdness onto itself with no help from anyone other than the newsmakers themselves.

It starts with some oddity, the sort of thing that makes a normal person go, “Huh?” Then, the government refuses to acknowledge the obvious when citizens respond.

---

The New York Times debacle of 2019 is the classic gift that kept on giving. The County Commission denied an innocent library subscription, doubled down when citizens objected, and kept the county in turmoil for months. One hundred percent self-inflected wound.

Today’s gift that keeps on giving: Betz Farm.

Two weeks after the County Commission gave in to public pressure and inexplicably ended the purchase contract with developer James Dicks, Commissioner Holly Davis now says that was a mistake.

Davis, who suggested in the last meeting that the county sell Betz Farm to Dicks and then use that $6 million to buy a totally different Dicks tract for conservation, voted with the four-commissioner majority to cancel the contract. Her agenda memo for Tuesday states:

“Due to the potential financial exposure to the County, I am asking my fellow Board members to reconsider the action taken on April 14, 2026, regarding the cancellation of the Betz Farm contract.”

Look, why don’t we just hand Jamie Dicks a sack of dough and keys to the Courthouse? Cuz that’s where we’re headed.

Betz Farm is the unforced error of all time. The County Commission shot itself in the foot, reloaded, shot again, reloaded, shot again…and wondered why the foot still hurts.

Let's count the ways:

— The county in 2017 said it would unload surplus land. Betz Farm was the prize. So far, we’re OK.

— The county then decided to use eventual Betz Farm proceeds for a new Animal Shelter. And that’s when we started going off the rails. Honestly, this is one of the worst budgetary moves I’ve ever seen. We committed to a major, necessary project based on the financial outcome of a totally irrelevant issue. 

— Suncoast Parkway opened to S.R. 44 in February 2022. I mention this because we have a BP (Before Parkway) and an AP (After Parkway) in this county. BP — sell Betz Farm. AP — keep Betz Farm. Why? Well, the parkway brought an extreme amount of residential and commercial growth. It’s all we talk about.

— It should have been clear to ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION that the Betz Farm development idea was dead in the water. When the City of Crystal River permitted RV parks on each end of Turkey Oak Drive, it became even clearer.

— Clear to everyone but the County Commission. 

— Despite public opposition, the County Commission kept plugging Betz Farm. It chose a buyer, someone with no development experience. Shockingly, it didn’t pan out.

— When that deal fell through, the County Commission then chose Dicks, who has numerous approved and potential developments in Citrus County. None are yet built, though there’s one in the making off Crystal Oaks Drive. Can’t miss it.

— Up until this point, we’re OK. Not great, but OK. The public would rather Betz Farm stay protected, but if a developer wants to give us $6 million, knock yourself out. It’s not like we’re on the hook for his development, right?

— We’re on the hook for his development. No sale without zoning approval first. My goodness. As bad as the Betz Farm-Animal Shelter marriage was, this agreement is the biggest County Commission embrace of a developer I’ve ever seen (though the 491 mess comes close).

— Much time went by without even a public hearing for the proposed development. Meanwhile, taxpayers caught onto this cozy arrangement between the county and developer, and they wanted it stopped NOW.

— And that’s what the board did, voting 4-1 to cancel the contract and absorb the likely lawsuit that’s coming. (Important point: The board could have heard the Betz Farm development on its normal timeline and voted it down without a single legal worry.)

— Commissioner Davis now wants to reverse the decision from two weeks ago — which she supported — because she fears “financial exposure.” I’d say that horse already left the barn.

Betz Farm is an unforced error created solely out of County Commission politics and their well-connected friends. Commissioners have dug a rather large hole for themselves. Good luck climbing out of this one.

That’s a wrap. Have a great Monday, friends.

​Join the discussion on our Facebook page.
​
Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon.