The Batsel "Conflict"
Something is not sitting right with me in regards to Betz Farm. It is coming back up on the agenda next meeting due to new information that they received. That new information... a new letter from Dix Development attorney Rob Batsel "demanding" a few things and pointing out what he thinks will be costs the county will bear if they continue with the cancellation.
The next few days will be Betz Farm related as this continues to escalate. Here are some of the topics:
- Newest Batsel letter
- Kevin Cunningham conflict and commission payment
- Can this even be rescinded
- And whatever else pops up between now and Tues.
In any case, James Dicks/Dix Development is being represented by Rob Batsel, as seen in the letter he sent the county a couple of weeks ago.
I certainly do not know when Batsel started to represent Dix Development on the Betz Farm project (Bravo Land Group), but I do know that he represented Southern Oaks Property Group, LLC (also Dix Development) back on August 26, 2025 for the Pine Ridge Golf Course Project. This will be an important date in a moment.
He is also representing Southern Oaks Property Group, LLC in the appeal of the Pine Ridge BOCC approval, as shown on the documents filed with the court. This is currently ongoing.
Clearly there is an established relationship prior to August 26, 2025 and an ongoing one for Betz Farm.
So why does all this matter?
Well as we all know by now, Batsel also represents the City of Crystal River. I have raised the question of conflict before in regards to this project, but I came across something in a recent records request that potentially puts this conflict in full light.
This is a line item from the October 2025 invoice sent from Batsel's office to the City of Crystal River.
RWB on the Invoice is Rob Batsel. Here, he is talking to James Dicks regarding the Betz Farm project and reviewing maps and related issues and then billing the City of Crystal River for that work. It is "only" $237.50 but the point remains. He did this while representing James Dicks/Dix Development for the Pine Ridge project (remember that August 26 date).
However, I do not know when he was hired by Dix for the Betz Farm project. I do not know if there have been other invoices since October that included billed hours for the Betz Farm project. This is the only one I know of that exists, going back into 2024.
Still... it is clear he was representing Dix Development prior to October 16, 2025 and then billing the city for work related to Betz Farm, which is under contract with the county and Dix Development/James Dicks, whom he is now representing on Betz Farm issues.
It gets better.
Here is an email from Batsel to Clark Stillwell in February 2024. Stillwell had been the previous attorney working with Dix Development on the Betz project before retiring within the last year or so. This email from Batsel is in regards to a question Stillwell asked the city on the timeline to annexation.
Now you have Batsel working for the city to reply to the attorney working for Dix Development... whom Batsel, two years later, represents.
And there is more (feeling like Oprah this morning).
As mentioned, the Betz Farm project was being considered for potential annexation into the City of Crystal River. Based on the emails, there was, at the very least, a pre-application meeting to discuss the annexation process.
This process was being done by Chuck Pigeon from Ardurra, who is the engineer that works on Dix's Development projects. I believe he has worked on all of them to date.
That email shows there was a pre-application meeting request and confirmation of the paperwork being submitted to the city.
Then comes this email.
This email references the AltId numbers of the parcels presumably being considered for the annexation. At the very least, they are tied to the pre-application meeting, which is why they were included.
Why is this interesting?
Because the highlighted parcel, The Mary Street LLC property (AltKey 1058350) is the parcel formally owned by Kevin Cunningham, the realtor for the county on the Betz Farm sale. This parcel is on the corner of Turkey Oak and Citrus Avenue. This parcel is in the city limits of Crystal River, as seen in the Property Appraiser map below.
As you can see, this parcel was sold to 495 Land Group, LLC (James Dicks owned company) on November 25, 2025. This property happens to:
1) Be in the city limits of Crystal River
2) Be across the street from city owned property (Yeoman's Park).
The fact that this email from Pigeon to the city on July 1, 2024, 16 full months before the sale is telling. In order to use this parcel in an application, Dix Development would have to have a contract on this parcel or at the very least permission from Cunningham to represent his interests in the property during the application process.
This is what that looks like from the Pulte Home project, where they are wanting to develop land currently owned by River Oaks Properties, INC (Tamposi).
I could go on, but this will be a topic for another day...
The point here is that Batsel was representing the city in 2024 in regards to Betz Farm (email above)... then started working for Dix Development/Southern Oaks Property Group, LLC (August 2025 for Pine Ridge project) while billing the city for work on Betz Farm (where he may not have yet been hired to represent)... The entire project had, at a minimum, preliminary discussions to annex into the City... where again, Batsel was involved. Property related to Betz farm project is now owned by Dix Development and sits across the street from city owned property and now coming to the city for development (see a bit below).
Phew... help me make sense of all of that.
I sent an email to the city council last week, pointing out this potential conflict and have heard from only one of them, who thanked me for sending it. Why does the city council not think this is a conflict of interest for their attorney to be representing a developer who plans to expand across the street from property the city owns?
There is more. Apparently, there are recent plans in the works to begin to work on that parcel. This is an email from Joe Cappuccilli (associated with Dicks on other projects) sent to the city on March 18, 2026. This email mentions a potential development of those 40 acres on Turkey Oak/Citrus Ave.
More importantly, Cappuccilli states he is working with Dix Development on this project. That ties Dix Development to the Cunningham parcel again... and thus... Batsel as he has stated in the letter to the county that he is representing Dix Development.
Again, this parcel is across the street from the city owned land and within the city limits, thus subject to the city's development regulations... which Batsel advises on.
In a separate email, Cappuccilli includes a site plan of what is going to be proposed (for now) on that parcel on Citrus Ave and Turkey Oak.
This is going to be a gas station with a stand alone car wash. It sorta looks like the graphic from the Dix Development website above showing the potential development plan for this parcel.
Is the city going to have input on this project since they own the park across the street? It appears staff will be having conversations.
Remember, Batsel stepped down from city representation and developer representation on the Anderson Columbia asphalt plant project once it was made public that the city owned the spray field across the street. This is clearly a Dix Development project, as Cappuccilli clearly states in the email to the city.
How long before Batsel has to step down from Dix/City representation on Betz Farm and associated properties because the city owns the property across the street?
This all makes this article more interesting.
I guess we will see where this goes. Have a great Thursday!