Quote:
Originally Posted by mraines
Are the sidewalks really public? I think the Villages owns everything. The streets are public. The Villages would not be "enhancing" the sidewalks if they were public. By the way, for the last two protests, we were not allowed to park in the Aldi parking lot as it was "private" property. In this last protest, I was told we could park there as it was public property. So, which is it?
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The sidewalks are public. The roads are public and The Villages does not own everything.
The Aldi's parking lot is "privately owned". What's that mean? It means that the owner of the Aldi's property (The Villages) can determine who gets to park there or doesn't get to park there.
Except it's not that simple.
Aldi's (or a parent company) holds a Lease on the property, that includes access to the parking lot. That access is likely not "exclusive", but shared with other tenants and perhaps with others.
But there's more.
The owner (The Villages) *may* have granted "rights" and or "licenses" for other people to use the parking lot or conceivable have granted a general easement to residents of The Villages and/or the county.
Just because a property is owned by a private entity, you can't assume no one else has the right to use it ... it's more complicated than that.