The Betz Farm debacle goes deeper

This week’s goal: No political blogs. We’ll see how far that goes.

Recent events recalled a story from years gone by.

A certain commissioner owned a business that had run afoul of county ordinances. This dispute went on for several months. Finally, the commissioner’s attorney appeared before the County Commission hoping for a resolution.

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The attorney made it clear: Without one a lawsuit was coming.

Commissioners avoided trouble, and the problem went away.

That attorney just a few weeks later appeared before the same board in a job interview. The board was looking for a new county attorney, and he had applied.

He’s a well-known local lawyer. Quite the familiar name. A commissioner said something along the lines of, “Um, aren’t you the guy who just stood up here two weeks ago threatening to sue us? And now you think we should hire you? Next.”

The board wisely chose a different attorney. The one who holds the job now.

You see, there are some lines a government shouldn’t cross. Doing public business with people who seek to harm citizens should rank right up there as a line not to cross.

Yet that is exactly the situation the Citrus County government has with the proposed buyer of Betz Farm.

He is the same person who owns a company that was denied homesites on the Pine Ridge Golf Course. Despite a 5-0 board vote, the developer is taking legal action to have that overturned.

Then I read recently that his company is suing the Pine Ridge Property Owners Association for slander over a remark the POA president made in a letter to a state agency regarding the golf course development plan.

So, if I’m seeing this correctly, county commissioners are about to sell valuable public land to a developer who is suing their own citizens.

Let that sink in.

As stated here on numerous occasions, the county has no game plan for Betz Farm other than to unload it to the highest bidder and hope nothing terrible happens.

That bidder would be Dix Development and its principal, James Dicks, who is offering $6 million for the 350 acres.

Dicks has made significant development inroads in Citrus County through various companies. His name is attached to some of the biggest approved and in-the-process developments, including: 950-home Crystal Ridge (Rock Crusher Canyon); 179-unit Harmony Park apartments at Meadowcrest; and the Crossings, 400 homes plus apartments near the Lecanto school complex.

And he has promised similar bells and whistles for Betz Farm.

So, he’s clearly making an investment in Citrus County. He sees financial success here.

He also doesn’t win every time. And there’s the rub.

Such as the Pine Ridge Golf Course. The community rallied in opposition, and county commissioners voted 5-0 against changing the Pine Ridge master plan to allow Dicks to build homes on the golf course.

Not surprisingly, he appealed. The process allows for mediation and a possible return to the County Commission; failing that, court may be another stop.

This should have been an immediate red flag for commissioners.

“Hmm…we’re selling property to someone who wants to sue when our vote doesn’t get his way. Not sure if that’s wise,” said no one.

County commissioners not only extended the due diligence to June 19, but they also agreed with Dicks’ demands to structure the contract so that the sale will take place only AFTER commissioners agree to his development plan.

No conflict there, right? No incentive for commissioners to turn a blind eye to this developer’s plans because he holds a $6 million carrot? Oh, please.

That’s bad enough. Getting into a contractual arrangement with a businessman who is challenging the county’s call on a separate land-use case seems fraught with peril.

I don’t know whether the Pine Ridge POA slandered Dicks or not. And I’m certainly not suggesting he back down from a fight. He’s gotta do what he needs to do. This is his business.

The difference, though, is county commissioners have a chance to take a stand for its citizens by stopping the Betz Farm sale. Remember, commissioners and Pine Ridge are on the same side in the golf course dispute. You’d think commissioners would go out of their way to ensure Pine Ridge has their back. 

Or they could just be up front: “Hey Pine Ridge, we love ya! Sorry he’s suing you, but we need that six-mil for the new animal shelter and this guy’s our best bet. Hope it all works out!”

Some stuff just gets in my craw. This is one of them.

Have an awesome Monday, friends.

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