We need to protect what we can

Two places you’re unlikely to confuse on any day of the week:

1. Betz Farm.
2. Pirates Cove.

Yet, they are co-mingled. In my mind, anyway. Allow me to explain.

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Pirates Cove, first. Commissioner Jeff Kinnard’s on-and-off attempts to buy the Pirates Cove property adjacent to the Ozello Community Park is coming back next week for another board review.

The county has appraisals showing the 3 acres are worth about $1 million. Kinnard would like board support to negotiate a purchase price.

We’ll leave that here for the moment.

County-owned Betz Farm is also lingering out there. A developer is under contract to pay $6 million for the 359 acres on Turkey Oak Drive, across from Crystal River High School. In a true act of sheer arrogance, the developer is demanding that county commissioners approve his permits, including the development plan, BEFORE the sale closes.

That’s why Turkey Oak motorists may notice the land-use “Application Pending” sign in front of public property. 

I’ve gone over all the reasons why this Betz Farm plan is one of the worst policy ideas of all time. Commissioners only see dollar signs. Let’s sell this pup and move on. Citizens see everything else: Commissioners pushing the public aside to appease a developer.

Let me take this conversation to another realm: Keeping both Pirates Cove and Betz Farm.

In case you haven’t noticed, vacant land is being gobbled left and right around here. We’re seeing less dirt and more bricks.

Nothing wrong with growth. Plenty of activity makes for a healthy economy. And we haven’t even seen the thousands of homes in new developments not yet built. Citrus County has construction coming from every pore.

It would certainly seem prudent, then, to hold on to what we have and buy what we can.

I’ll get into this in great detail in January, but I’m mulling a sales tax idea that would include using some funds to buy property to protect it from development. We can have pockets of park property scattered strategically throughout the county to offset the Targets and mega housing developments.

This idea will only work if the decision-makers are using common sense.

So, back to Pirates Cove. I’ve long advocated buying Pirates Cove. Various developers have proposed condos and time-shares over the years, and while they’ve been unsuccessful there’s no guarantee that a future board won’t decide to make Ozello a condo paradise.

The Pirates Cove property is adjacent to the county boat ramp. Someone recently bequeathed to the county more land near the parking lot. This area is ripe for public ownership. 

I can’t think of a single reason (except, the appraisal seems rather high) why we wouldn’t want to own this property other than the misguided belief that ALL property should be held privately and taxed.

That brings us to Betz Farm. Once owned by the Tamposi family for a residential development that never came to fruition. In exchange for impact fee credits on other projects, the Tamposis gave Citrus County the land.

At the time, all agreed on one thing: This is a great place for a park.

It instead sat empty and useless until a commissioner suggested the county start unloading all its unnecessary property, and another commissioner suggested we sell Betz Farm and use proceeds for the new animal shelter.

Now, read that last sentence. Far as I can tell, it is the county’s strategic plan for Betz Farm. I came up with it in 30 seconds.

Both Pirates Cove and Betz Farm should be held in public ownership. Not only would both protect significant areas from unnecessary development, but they can also be passive public parks for generations of citizens to enjoy.

And, yeah, this is a package deal. Commissioners who pursue Pirates Cove while discarding Betz Farm are speaking from both sides of their mouths. Those with no interest in either property lack foresight. Either we want to protect vulnerable property from development, or we don’t.

It really is that simple. Have a terrific Tuesday, friends.

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