[Rsenholzi]

First a history lesson. Mr Schwartz was the original developer for this area. He had a dream that he wanted to build an area for the “average guy” to live out their final days in an affordable area filled with activities for them. In those days you could see Mr. Schwartz walking down the street talking to the average guy. He was a personable , friendly man who cared about people. His goal was to keep the area small and affordable. As the area got bigger, he made a promise to all that the area would never get too large to forget the people.
When he passed, the children and grandchildren took over and their greed set in. Suddenly the people were forgotten and services were taken away, taxes were raised in the newer area by 25% in one year. This directly related to the impact fees. Studies weren’t done at how the building would affect the people. Instead the people were expected to “pay” for the impact of the new areas instead of the developer absorbing the costs who was the one making all the money from the building. The “villagers” were expected to pay for new services such as roads, fire depts, police depts, etc. when the people balked at this they “bought” the people making those decisions. If fact, in Sumter , one man makes all the decisions relating to the expansion of the villages. He makes close to $400,000 a year paid for by the developers. Naturally, he’s not going to bite the hand that feeds him so he votes their way instead of the wish of the area people. When the people balked at the expansion , he disregarded an entire room of people as well as an overflow crowd expressing negative comments regarding the expansion, yet he stopped a citizen who wanted to build a carport onto his home on his multi acre farm. They even went so far as buying a senator again by paying his salary, who stopped the impact fees that were going to be accessed so as to keep taxes down to the village people. The people don’t want apartments at La Hacienda or in the squares. Lake county voted them down in Spanish Springs. They are now being brought to court by the developers despite an overflowing crowding wanting them voted down. Those commissioners listened to the people there since they live outside the Villages. As for La Hacienda , they took away the country club for the area residents and are now putting multistory apartments there instead. They were told if they didn’t vote for the apartments they would build a multistory parking garage there instead.
So you see , it is the fact that Mr Schwartz’s dream is being ruined of the Villages being for the “average guy” by greedy children and grandchildren and that is why there is such unrest among the people of the Villages.