About Betz Farm

Let's talk Betz Farm.

We are within a 2 week window of the October 13th hearing. Next Tuesday, we find out what documents have been provided by the applicant and the intervenor.

I do know that the Joanna Coutu issue is going to take center stage. I personally think the timing of Eric Landon terminating her is suspect. With Betz Farm a couple of weeks away, he decides to fire the most important employee in that office? She is the one that did the staff report. She is the one that would be doing the presentation for the county. By Landon's own admission, she is the smartest person in that office and knows the most about land development.

Fire your most knowledgeable employee weeks before the biggest land hearing case of the year... and perhaps in recent history... no offense Pine Ridge, Tuscany Ranch and others.

Does not stink at all.

Side note... Steve Howard had 3 calls with James Dicks in April for whatever that is worth.

Now, the county is going to have Joe Hochadel do the hearing. He has been with the county for 20 years. No offense to him, but he is not Joanna Coutu. She has been known to be a bit difficult with developers over the years... makes you wonder why an employee with no discipline record is suddenly tossed out (or attempted) for a first infraction.... and not Landon has confirmed she will be sidelined for the Betz Farm hearing.

Further, you can tell something is up when certain people in the community start speaking out publicly about this project... or development in general. People who historically have not been very vocal on social media about these types of issues. The timing is interesting. Two weeks before a meeting that will bring dozens of people to the podium to speak out, certain people are starting to question the process of that and the influence the people wearing tshirts have on these hearings.

When Crystal River City Council member Mindi Hastings added Betz Farm to the agenda last week after receiving an email from a concerned citizen, one of these influential people fired off an email to the council questioning why the city was bringing this to the agenda and what the purpose was. They were afraid people in the community were getting to the council.

Interesting.

The city council ultimately decided not to do anything. Not even sure the point of the discussion. I guess they wanted to ask staff to keep them updated on the happenings there so they can start planning for roads and other impacts... There was also some talk of annexation. Some on the council and in the city seem eager to explore that... like why wouldn't the city want to annex a large parcel with potentially 1000+ homes into the city. More tax revenue right?

Eye roll.

Keep an eye on the city council race between Mindi Hastings and Jack Reynolds. One of these people has the support of the very same group that is starting to speak loudly about these issues and has close connections to Dicks... as well as supporting Commissioner Rebecca Bays in her campaign for re-election.... in fact... Bays supports this person too... as does the who's who of Citrus.

I will let you guess which one that is.

Conspiracies aside, let's jump into the facts.

During the hearing and leading up to it, you will hear this a lot:

Betz Farm has development rights that allow it to be developed. It will never be conservation land.

True. It has development rights from the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) from the 80s. It has been changed throughout the years as to what has been allowed. Today, that is 1542 units.

So yes, if Dicks closed tomorrow, he can build 1542 units. However, those units can ONLY be 1014 cluster units and 520 condo units. No single family units are allowed. Cluster units are generally townhouses.

In an email to county attorney Denise Lyn and commissioners on February 23, 2024, Clark Stillwell (then Dicks' attorney) stated the same, expressing concern about a potential project:

This email leads to the request and approval of the April 2024 addendum that allows Dicks to only close when he receives whatever approvals he seeks.

Fun fact, Denise Lyn objected to this addendum, yet commissioner Jeff Kinnard brought it to the agenda anyway and the board approved it despite her objections.

The love these commissioners have for Dicks is insane. They will literally do anything for the guy... except approve one development next to Lecanto High School he wanted to do (Davis was the lone yes vote... surprise). That is the ONLY project this board has denied of his... and that was likely due to Frank Colitz hiring Rob Batsel to argue against it on behalf of his mining operation across the street.

Fun fact #2... Dicks then hires Batsel after losing here..

Ok... back on track.

Dicks can decide to close within 30 days at any point in time. He just has to let the county know he wants to close. Then he can start building... townhouses and condos. That is it.

That is why they want to change this DRI to a PUD to allow him to build a more marketable product... ie... make more money. That is the single family home element. He cannot do that now without this change.

As for the claim that it can never be conservation... well I say that is no accurate. Even if he decided to close in the next 30 days, the DRI expires in January of 2029. That is just over 2 years.

No builder can build 1500 units in 2 years. It is just not feasible from a financial standpoint. So while he will own the property, he would not be able to develop it beyond January 2029. No further permits could be pulled if the DRI expires without doing some type of development application.

That is why he is asking for a 20 year extension.

No, what happens if this project is approved?

Well, the intervenor could always appeal, like Pine Ridge did. I am sure they would be able to crowd source the funds to do that rather quickly. Then it will go to a court to decide if the rules were followed, there was sufficient evidence for approval, and so on.

What happens if it is denied?

Who knows. The contract does not go away if it is denied. Dicks still holds it until he gets whatever approvals he wants. See how crazy this thing is and the commissioners walked right into it.

He could do a number of things.

• Close regardless and build what he is allowed to today
• Change the project up substantially and bring it back within a year
• Wait a year and bring the project back as-is
• Seek annexation into Crystal River so that city council makes the decision and not the county
• Drop the contract and move on.

Conspiracy time...

My prediction... If their preferred candidate wins the city council race (Reynolds), Dicks would seek annexation into Crystal River. You then have a council of Joe Meek, Chris Ensing and Jack Reynolds that would likely be open to annexation. Ensing already hinted he could be easily convinced. Gabrielle Satchel and Robert Holmes would likely be the outliers.

If they vote to annex, they would also likely vote for the development project. There is no reason to annex to the city if the project will not be approved. Again, that would appear to be a 3-2 vote.

Just how I see it playing out if the commissioners deny it. Could be right.. Could be wrong... but almost willing to bet my house on it.. almost.

But the plan has always been the commissioners.

There is a reason this was brought after the election and not before. They could not risk Bays. She is the key vote in this. Now that she lost, she could be a bit of a wildcard, but my guess leans towards approval pretty strongly due to connections.

There is a reason Kinnard was trying to rush the Land Development Code changes passed quickly. It was to help this project. I presume he is a yes on this.

Holly Davis cannot say no to James Dicks... so she is a yes absent finding a backbone to finally stand up to him. Maybe "Conservation Girl" actually shows up this time.

Finegan and Barek are likely "no" votes. That is historically their stance. I do not expect that to change for this vote.

So most would say it would be 3-2 approval, as most projects go these days.

I do not think Dicks wants to delay this past November to get Stacey Worthington and Holli Herndon on the board. While Bays is a wildcard, she is a more known thing. Worthington and Herndon are complete wildcards.

Plus, the influential group that backed Worthington likely does not want to see one of her first actions be a vote on Betz Farm. Nothing like setting the tone of the next 4 years with a vote on a largely disputed project.. Vote "yes" and people will immediately question their votes for her... Vote "no" and upset the pro-builder crowd who largely supported her.

Tough spot to be in and one she likely wants to avoid... as do the others involved most likely.

Ok.. just my thoughts/opinion... see you on the 13th!!