[Goldwingnut]

If you think what has been and is being built isn't part of Schwartz's plan/dream you've over looked the timeline of The Villages development. All of the lands that make up The Villages all the way down to Brownwood and Rohan Rec Center were acquired well before his death and the CDDs up to 10 were established just a few months after his death. He was a major part of the planning of what The Village is today. He was probably greasing the ways for the rest of this juggernaut south of 44 also, land deals like this are not done in a day, they take years of negotiations and planning.

As far as the trees being cleared one only needs to look at the historical images on Google Earth Pro or the Sumter County Property Appraiser web site to see what things looked like 10 or 20 years ago. This entire area was pasture lands and watermelon field. I commuted between Orlando and Gainesville every week in 1980 on US441, much of it back then was 2 lane road, Leesburg stopped before 441 met 27, Wildwood, Fruitland Park, and Lady Lake were a gas station or two. The area between 441 and I-75 from the Turnpike and Ocala was dirt poor and depressed, the biggest industry was some horse farms at the northern end. A lot of economic good and thousands of job have come from The Villages. The Villages is doing most things right, if you want to see what happens with things are poorly planned look no farther than Lehigh Acres outside Fort Meyers and all the problems it has gone through.

Yes there were other trees and some were cleared, the unhealthy ones, most of the healthy ones were kept and thousands more have been planted and are now mature. The same is happening in the Fenney-DeLuna-Bradford areas, sickly trees and scrub is being cleared and the healthy ones are being saved. From a business standpoint it is in their best interest to save as many trees as practicable and use them in their overall landscaping and ambiance for the communities they build. A winding community with lots of trees has greater economic value (read - more profitable) than one that is simply checkerboard roads and packed in houses even though the actual number of homes will be less. The Developer also plants a lot of new and semi-mature trees during the development of the properties in addition to their preservation efforts. Much of the trees you see at the northern end of The Villages is a result of those efforts and 10-20 years of additional growth.

The clear cut development going on in other areas of the State of Florida don't take as conservative of an approach as here in Sumter County. In south Florida the clearing and building is devastating to watch. They also don't take the water conservation efforts as far as it is taken in The Villages, the conservation efforts are a recognized industry model for how much can be done to conserve.

Many complain about the growth of The Villages being out of control, hardly so, the big advantage of having one large and well planned development and developer is control of the sprawl that usually happens. Go to the Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, or south Florida areas and drive around. It is a true mess, urban sprawl has run a muck. Over a thousand people a day, everyday, move to Florida, about 25 of them move to The Villages.

The Villages today isn't Mr. Schwartz's nightmare, it is his dream that he planned, and them some.