Manatee County moves forward with Mixon Fruit Farms purchase

Janet Mixon said she and husband Dean Mixon might have moved out of Florida if Manatee County didn’t purchase Mixon Fruit Farms.

“Dean could not have handled seeing everything bulldozed and made into condos,” she said.

While the purchase of Mixon Fruit Farms was turned down by Manatee County’s Environmental Lands Program, Manatee County commissioners voted unanimously July 29 to purchase the property for $13.5 million.

The approval came exactly two years after Mixon Fruit Farms' last day of business on July 29, 2023. The property was listed at $15.8 million in 2023.

By January 2024, Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker told the East County Observer that the property didn’t fit the criteria of the Environmental Lands Program. In order to make it fit the program’s requirements, staff looked into restoring the creek on the property, but the cost was deemed too high.

The decision was a disappointment to the Mixons, so when another chance to sell to the county came along, the couple rallied public support and lowered their asking price to more than $2 million under the appraised value. 

Residents signed petitions, emailed their commissioners, phoned into the meeting and showed up in person to support the purchase, which includes the 39-acre property, a pavilion, a 38,026-square-foot store and a 2,538-square-foot house.

"I appreciate you all investing in the people," Elwood Park's Janyel Taylor told the commission after the majority of commissioners made it known that they would be voting in favor of the purchase. "We need community infrastructure that supports careers, wellness and opportunities."

What's next?

To start, commissioners approved four full-time staff members to operate the facility — a program manager, event supervisor, park maintenance technician and custodian.

Molly White, director of Sports and Leisure Services, said the staffing will cost just over $362,000 annually, along with another $100,000 in operating expenses.

There are also upfront costs, such as $58,000 for remediation. The remediation will be performed mainly where the citrus grove was located. Because of past pesticide use, some of the soil will be removed and disposed of off-site.

On the other hand, the farm will generate revenue as an event venue. Janet Mixon said events can bring in $350,000 a year.

They stopped booking events because of the pending sale, but the Mixons still get regular requests that she’s happy to pass on to the county.

She and Dean Mixon are elated to have the county preserve the property that they’re willing to help out in any way they can. 

“Use Dean’s knowledge of the farm and the property,” she said. “When they get into the educational stuff, I wouldn’t mind helping with some of that either.”

Before the Mixons left the meeting, Hunsicker asked Dean Mixon where the best place to start planting would be, so Mixon marked it on a map for him.

Commissioner Amanda Ballard, who championed the purchase because the farm is within her district, wants to plant a heritage grove. 

She described it as a living museum that visitors can walk through. The trees will be accompanied by placards that tell the history of the citrus industry in Manatee County. 

Elliott Falcione, director of the Manatee County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said “history ranks third in the eyes of the tourist.” The top two are “sugar white, sand beaches and the uniqueness of the food.”

Falcione sees the purchase as an opportunity to promote agritourism in Manatee County. He threw out a range of opportunities including a permanent farmers market.

Ballard's original plans laid out a weekend farmer's market, a library in the store that will feature a commercial kitchen for educational classes, and plots of land that can be leased to residents who don’t have land of their own but want to try farming.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Even before the purchase, Ballard had started to engage possible community partners, such as Fresh from Florida, Big Waters Land Trust and New College of Florida.

Madeline Tympanick, associate director of Employer Relations and Work-Based Learning at New College, said a partnership can provide additional opportunities for students and become a pipeline for local employment.

Conversely, Ballard said longterm internships can provide the county with free ideas and manpower.

“I want immediate community involvement and buy in,” she said. “The more quickly we can get diverse segments of the community excited and involved, the more successful this endeavor will be.”

Ballard plans to seek additional partnerships and meet with stakeholders at the farm over the next month.

Commission Carol Felts sees an opportunity for already established “truck farmers” to help get the farmers market up and running. Truck farmers grow crops that are loaded into their trucks and sold locally.

“They have the experience to produce off 1 acre of land,” she said.

As the commissioner representing the rural portion of the county, Felts also envisions the Mixon property promoting agriculture in East County. People would park at Mixon and take a trolley or bus out east for a farm tour.

Janet Mixon said she tried to start something similar years ago, but it never got off the ground. One of her ideas was a trip to Hunsader Farms to pick strawberries and come back to the commercial kitchen to make strawberry jam.

“Wouldn’t that be great?” she said. “We are so excited for all the things (the county) wants to do.”