The canyons of a Florida neighborhood become more magnificent thanks to Debby’s rain

INVERNESS, Fla — Imagine buying a beautiful home in what you thought would be a beautiful neighborhood.

Then you discover that your neighborhood was built without a proper drainage system, which has turned its unpaved streets into deeply scarred canyons.

Tania Ruiz-Barreto does not have to imagine such a scenario. She is living it.

“It’s very frustrating,” she said. “It’s very frustrating because we want to enjoy our beautiful homes and be able to have visitors.”

Ruiz-Barreto is one of hundreds of people who live in Inverness Village 4, a Citrus County neighborhood that was somehow built without a drainage system. As a result, years of erosion made the neighborhood’s streets, which were never paved, nearly impossible to navigate in some areas.

“I literally had to go in a 4×4 Jeep, so I could get in and out when it rains, when it’s, you know, overflowing,” Ruiz-Barreto said.

The canyons of a Florida neighborhood become more magnificent thanks to Debby’s rain

But even a Jeep had a hard time navigating the neighborhood streets last weekend as heavy rains from Hurricane Debby turned them into rivers of whitewater.

The rapids deepened existing canyons and also opened new ones.

Residents like Tania, who bought at Inverness Village 4, thought the streets would be paved and assumed there was a proper drainage system. They feel cheated and are losing hope.

“If you look at other neighborhoods, that’s the first thing they build: the roads, the drainage. You know, they did it all backwards,” Ruiz-Barreto said.

The canyons of a Florida neighborhood become more magnificent thanks to Debby’s rain

At this point, Citrus County government, a homebuilder, and the person who sold many of the lots to the homebuilders are constantly accusing each other. No solution has yet materialized.

Although the neighborhood roads were dedicated to the public, Citrus County government refused to maintain the rights-of-way because roads were never built.

Meanwhile, Chris Matser, whose company Van Der Valk Construction built many of the homes in Inverness Village 4, argues that it is the county’s responsibility. Some neighbors blame the county for not providing enough oversight.

Ruiz-Barreto, for his part, still has a ray of hope that a solution will come.

“Something is going to happen for us,” he said. “God is going to work it out for us. But some days, it gets very frustrating.”

Citrus County Commissioner Holly Davis is still waiting for state aid.

She believes homebuyers here were defrauded and asked the state to investigate months ago.

“I met with the Attorney General’s office in January of this year and left the case file with them, which was then forwarded to the (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) for investigation. I was told at the time that the investigation would take months, not years, so I am hopeful that we will hear back before the end of 2024,” Davis said in a statement sent to ABC Action News on Thursday.