A Villager has failed to persuade the Community Development District 2 Board of Supervisors to make an exception for his Florida room.
Youssef El-Masry, who lives at 2164 Estevez Drive in Villa Vera Cruz in the Village of Santiago, was back before the board Friday morning in a bid to save the addition he made to his home without the approval of the Architectural Review Committee.
He purchased the patio villa in 1997 for $73,200. He said he was offered the option to have a Florida room added to the home at the time of purchase. He said he turned down the Florida room back then because he did not have the money to pay for it. He said he and his wife had come from the Chicago area and “we were tired of big houses.” However, his wife was in need of in-home care so he recently decided to make the addition, essentially enclosing a formerly screened-in area.
After the deed compliance violation was reported. El-Masry went before the ARC to appeal for retroactive permission to keep his Florida room. The ARC did not grant his request.
El-Masry, who immigrated to the United States in 1968, got little sympathy from the CDD 2, which has ordered him to remove the addition and bring the property back into compliance.
“What you have is in violation of the rules. Put it back the way it was,” said Supervisor Jim Cipollone.
El-Masry was not happy with the board’s decision and had to be told several times to step away from the podium and return to his seat.
“It’s bureaucracy without a reason,” El-Masry said.
