[ricthemic]

Originally Posted by NavyNJ

Ok folks, as is usual in most of these situations where odd things happen that seem to go against conventional wisdom (also sometimes called urban legend), a simple call to the entity that governs the situation will illuminate things quite well.

After a pleasant chat with staff in the Sumter County Zoning Office, here's what I discovered:

1) Setbacks shown on TV house plans (like we received at closing) shown as 5' side lot line and 10' back lot line are The Villages desired setbacks

2) Sumter County has 0' (zero foot) lot line setbacks on all sides and 10' min. between structures setbacks (This is important when you may not be the first person in - i.e., back yard neighbor has already built a birdcage)



3) Since Villages ARC has to bless all building plans, it is up to that group to allow an owner to go beyond their "desired" 10' back lot setback (see point #1)

Thus, if you are seeing build-outs/add-on's that are going beyond 10' from the lot line (6' in your observed cases), that action was approved by the ARC only, so long as the distance between structures remained at least 10'. If, however, someone wanted/desired to add a structure closer than 10' from the lot line, AND closer than 10' from the neighboring structure, then they would need ARC approval and a variance from Sumter County.

Hope that helps clarify and understand what's going on a little better. It's also why the Sumter County person I spoke with referred to is as the "First one in wins" principle!! Ciao! gh

Thank you. So if two houses are presently each 10 ft from back property line then it is possible for one to build 10 ft to th edge of his property line thus leaving 10 ft between the two buildings. Interesting