OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – In the November 3, 2026, agenda for the Ocala City Council, a letter was attached to agenda item 10a under “General Business” from Robert Batsel Jr., who is a partner at the Ocala firm Gooding, Batsel, Hartley & MacKay, where he focuses on land use, zoning, and real estate development. He previously served as Ocala’s city attorney until late 2022; under Florida Bar Rule 4-1.11 and the Guidelines for Former City Attorneys that city council adopted in 2023, he remains restricted from representing private clients in matters in which he participated “personally and substantially” while working for the city unless council first gives its informed consent.
He wrote the October 15 letter to City of Ocala Manager Pete Lee precisely to request that consent. The letter asked council to authorize him to represent Flyover Ocala, LLC and R.C.P. Ocala, LLC in connection with a proposed rezoning inside the Heath Brook Development of Regional Impact (DRI). Public Information Officer for the City of Ocala, Greg Davis, confirmed that sending the request by letter to the city manager is the typical method these have been submitted.
On November 3, city council approved the request, clearing Batsel to represent the two companies as they seek to rezone roughly 109 to 120 acres east of the new Southwest 49th Avenue within the Mockingbird Ridge Planned Development. According to Batsel, the owners want to remove that eastern portion from the current residential planned development and rezone it as a commercial node serving the surrounding area. No formal rezoning application has been filed yet, Davis said. City staff and the current city attorney did not object, noting that while the firm’s earlier work on the Heath Brook DRI required consent, the representation itself does not raise concerns…