I am a relative newbie to The Villages. The bridge access from the north side to south side seems to be a feature of the developer’s plan that made getting to the developer-owned Lake Sumter Landing square/shopping district convenient.
A non-bridge access was already in existence — Buena Vista Boulevard. Thus it was, by my deduction, a marketing feature and a sales facilitation access route to the marketing offices.
Secondly, it seems to me that the percentages calculation is inverted. If the purpose of the bridge was to ease access to the Lake Sumter Landing market square and for the purpose of easing delivery of marketing goods and construction materials for the Developer activities, the beneficial user of the bridge are is again The Developer.
If anything, it would seem to me that the bridge provides at least 50 percent value to The Developer and its retail and commercial spaces–not the less than 10 percent identified in the article. Our Amenity Authority and Community Development District leadership should campaign for a realignment of the assessments to reflect its usage/benefit — if any at all.
B. Howard Penix is a resident of the Village of Buttonwood.
