A Villager who believed he purchased a home with a serene view, has seen that peaceful setting disrupted by dog owners.
Marv Rosser purchased a home three years ago at 3642 Enterprise Drive, off Morse Boulevard south of County Road 466A.
“We can’t even sit on our lanai,” Rosser told members of the Project Wide Advisory Committee in a meeting Monday morning at the District Office.
Dog owners in golf carts regularly gather at a three-acre tract that lies between Rosser’s home and a preserve.
He said others gather for activities including flying drones.
Rosser said the dog owners’ decision to gather there doesn’t make much sense, since the Atlas Canine Dog Park is located less than a mile away.
Assistant District Manager Richard Baier said Sumter County Animal Control has been out to the location several times. The result has been that more of the dogs are on leashes, as required by county ordinance.
However, that hasn’t reduced the noise created by golf carts, dogs and people.
PWAC members considered a range of possible solutions, including parking spaces as was recently agreed to by the Amenity Authority Committee at an adhoc dog park near The Villages Regional Hospital.
“We’d just be telling them to ‘Park and Poop,'” said PWAC member Steve Brown.
Other possibilities included signage and landscaping.
“I don’t know how we can control people and whether they are courteous to other people,” said Sam Wartinbee of District Property Management.
Putting up a fence would not be without precedent. In 2016, PWAC voted to put up a fence at a popular dog-walking location near a stormwater retention basin near Lake Miona Recreation Center. That fence cost about $4,000.
During Monday’s discussion it was noted that some areas of The Villages, particularly postal stations, have taken on a dog-park atmosphere.
“People love their dogs. They are like grandchildren. They get pushed in strollers,” said PWAC Chairman Peter Moeller.
However, he said the situation with Rosser’s property was different than a dog tagging along on a trip to the postal station.
“There is a structure. It is a social event,” Moeller said of the dog owners who are said to regularly gather in the early evening.
PWAC agreed to research the price of the fence, which was initially projected to cost $3,500.
