Community Development District 3 supervisors are warning that The Villages is selling patio villas that are obviously in violation of deed compliance.
Supervisor Terry Biddle at Friday’s board meeting at Savannah Center held up a Properties of The Villages sales insert which was recently published in The Villages Daily Sun. He pointed to several of the listed patio villas with rock landscaping, which is not allowed.
In December, the CDD 3 board had a lengthy discussion about patio villas. The Architectural Review Manual states that homeowners cannot replace sod with rock at patio villas. Rock can only be used as an accent.
That meeting, in which three patio villa owners were found in violation of deed compliance due to rock landscaping, apparently left a bad taste in Biddle’s mouth. He returned to Friday’s meeting with a lengthy written statement, which he read into the record, outlining his concerns with rules about rock at patio villas.
“It is my considered opinion, upon cursory examination, that there are numerous patio villas throughout all of The Villages that are presently utilizing rocks and stones in the front yards in lieu of sod. A check of the most recent listing of homes and villas in the Jan. 10, 2023 Properties of The Villages insert in the Daily Sun clearly shows that there are numerous patio villa listings showing front yards with rocks or stones and not sod,” he said in the statement.
Supervisor Steffan Franklin offered his input on the notion of buying a patio villa with stone landscaping, knowing that a single anonymous complaint lodged with Community Standards could cost the new homeowner thousands of dollars in landscaping charges, to remove the stone and put down sod.
“I would tell them not to buy the house,” said Franklin, a former member of the Architectural Review Committee.
Last month, Deputy District Manager Carrie Duckett explained that professional engineers have offered an opinion that rock landscaping in patio villas could pose a danger to property. Without sod to help soak up heavy rain, the runoff from the rock could overwhelm the storm water drainage system and cause flooding. Villa roads drain down to the center unlike regular roads which crown in the center and drain to either side.
But with a month to mull it over, CDD 3 supervisors seemed less convinced that is true, considering the engineers’ recommendation was based on problems seen in Community Development District 8, which includes the villages of Buttonwood, Tamarind Grove and Pennecamp.
Supervisor Gail Lazenby suggested that CDD 8 is not an identical clone of CDD 3, which is an older district.
“I have been on this board 19 years and I have never heard anybody (in a patio villa) complaining about water backing up unless the drain is clogged,” Lazenby said.
The board has agreed to revisit the patio villas topic next month.
