I am not sure where I stand on this issue. On one hand, I want to be a good neighbor (even with non-Villagers), share the wealth a little, and show off “our stuff” to some extent. For some things, we actively encourage non-Villagers to come and participate (i.e. restaurants, shops, bar huts on the squares, etc.) On the other hand, I do pay amenity fees so I have a proprietary interest in protecting my investment and keeping “my” facilities free for my use.
In this particular instance, some make it sound as if the AAC has allowed non-residents free use of all our facilities and that is just not the case. What they have approved is for medical support groups (i.e. Diabetics, Alzheimer’s, AA, Hearing Loss, etc.) support groups formed by Villagers and meeting at Village recreation centers to allow up to ten non-village residents who are members or potential members of their group to attend their group meetings. That’s it! That’s the extent they get to use our facilities – attend a support group meeting. They don’t get to swim in our pools, use our pool tables, use our pickle ball courts, none of that – just attend a medical support group meeting at one of our recreation centers. I find it a little difficult to work up a lot of opposition to something that reasonable. In fact, we have always done a little bit of that sort of thing when we (as The Villages) sponsor state-wide events such as the Senior Olympics or even when we let The Villages schools use some of our sports facilities (i.e. their swim team).
On the other hand, some of us think this is starting a bad precedent and may mushroom into something a lot bigger. I do not think that is an unreasonable concern – in fact, it is one of my concerns and it has been since the Developer and Village government gave away complete and free access to all our facilities to another group of non-Villagers – the residents of Freedom Pointe. They did that to make a good selling point for Freedom Pointe – as a resident there you get full access to all TV facilities. My concern is that if you can sell it (or give it away) to one group, what is to prevent them from selling it to another group like all residents of Stonecrest or Spruce Creek South or Water Oaks or any other retirement community. Unfortunately, I think the “bad precedent” is already set.
But I diverge from the main point – the recent AAC decision. Although somewhat concerned over the precedent this sets, I am enough of a “good neighbor” to see the wisdom of allowing non-Villagers to attend medical support group meetings at TV facilities. For now, I will put my trust in the AAC to ride herd on this to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand and that the “exceptions” are only granted for a relatively good cause. If I ever see it start to become a carte blanche policy to allow non-TV residents free rein to our facilities, or anything even approaching that, I will be at the head of the protest line.
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