Some residents of Bridgeport at Miona Shores are unhappy that they have been denied driveway extensions.
Mike and Geri Tedesco, who own a home on Beachwood Street, say the Architectural Review Committee granted them permission to add on to their garage, but then turned around and refused to grant them permission to extend a driveway from the garage at their Premiere home.
The couple has five vehicles – a Toyota Tundra pickup, a Lexus SUV, a Streetrod golf cart, a Corvette, and a vintage car.
“We wanted to build a garage and make it look nice,” Mike Tedesco said.
But they were flabbergasted when the ARC turned them down when they asked to extend their driveway.
He said the new section of driveway would have curved back into the existing driveway. They were going to dress it up with paver bricks, he said.
“We wanted it to look nice in the neighborhood,” he said. “But we were told it was ‘not harmonious.'”
So now the Tedescos have a slab of concrete extending from the garage.
“It looks terrible,” he said. “I feel bad for the neighbors. We wanted to do it right.”
Janet Johnson, also of Bridgeport of Miona Shores, has also been denied a request to extend her driveway.
She has lived in The Villages for two years. She bought a Columbia Parcar, and because of the size of the golf cart, she wanted to extend her driveway. She was also denied by the ARC.
“It’s ridiculous,” she said. “I could understand if I was going to paint my house purple.”
ARC Chairman Irv Markley, also a resident of Bridgeport of Miona Shores, said the voluntary body made up of Villagers does not make the rules. The rule on driveway extensions in the Village of Bridgeport at Miona Shores has been made by Community Development District 6 supervisors.
He said homeowners can avoid headaches by doing their homework ahead of time.
