[Frangyomory]

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The Villages is a 55+ retirement community and Community Development District (CDD)[1] in central Florida in the United States. It is located about 20 miles south of Ocala and 60 miles northwest of Orlando, spanning parts of Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties. The current population is close to 60,000.

The geographic designation "The Villages" is used in two ways by the United States Census Bureau. Firstly, it refers to a census-designated place. The census-designated place "The Villages" includes only the section of The Villages which lies within the borders of Sumner County - 8,333 people in the 2000 census. The more heavily populated sections in Lake County are included within the figures for the town of Lady Lake. A small portion of The Villages is also located within Marion County. Secondly, "The Villages" is also the name of a Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA). This μSA consists of the section of The Villages that lies within Sumter County, plus the rest of Sumter County (53,345 people in the 2000 census).

Contents [hide]
1 Community Development District
1.1 Amenities
2 History
2.1 Recent events
3 References
4 External links



[edit] Community Development District
The Villages is developed and maintained using Florida's special purpose local government known as the Community Development District (CDD).[2] There are around 225 communities in Florida that are currently using this form of government.[2] In The Villages, there are two classes of CDDs. One class of CDD covers the areas where residents own homes. These CDDs provide and maintain the roads and transportation paths, storm water systems and structures, underground utilities, curb and gutter and street lights. The costs of building and maintaining this infrastructure are paid for by special assessments, a once-a-year charge which is included on the annual property tax bill. Residents elect the members of the Board of Supervisors for the District in which they reside. There are currently 8 districts.

The other class of CDD is the special central Community Development Districts: the Village Center Community Development District (VCCDD) and the Sumter Landing Community Development District (SLCDD). Recreation centers and executive golf courses are owned by these districts. Residents pay monthly amenities fees to these districts in exchange for the use of these facilities. Even though the recreation centers and the executive golf courses may be located in the CDD in which residents live, the facilities are owned by the special central CDDs, and not the residents. No residents live in these special CDDs, and in both of these CDDs the developer holds the majority of the votes. This means that the developer runs these special CDDs and the properties that they maintain.

After building the recreation centers and the executive golf courses, the developer transfers ownership of these facilities to the two special central CDDs at a price agreed upon by the developer and the developer-selected supervisors of the special CDDs.

A point of contention in The Villages is that the special CDDs pay the developer an inflated value for the recreation centers and the executive golf courses. Approximately 60% of the monthly amenity fees paid by the residents are used to fulfill the bond obligations issued by the two special central CDDs to pay the developer for these facilities. The argument in favor of this procedure is that the developer pays for, builds and completely finishes these facilities before the houses in an area constructed. This allows residents to begin using the recreation areas the day they move into their new neighborhood, unlike many other developments in the state that build homes first and then recreation centers (sometimes years) afterwards.


[edit] Amenities

Villages is a golf cart community, with special transportation trails built for golf carts. The development includes more than thirty recreation centers, over twenty executive golf courses, eight championship golf courses with country clubs, a golf academy, a polo field, two fitness centers, a woodworking shop and community garden, an archery range, two libraries and more than forty heated pools. Several charter schools, encompassing grades K-12 serve the area. These schools are funded by the builder and are for the children of employees of The Villages and the surrounding area.

A golf cart overpass was built across US 27/US 441 in the center of The Villages to connect the original neighborhood to new areas because a tunnel could not be constructed to provide safe passage across this major highway. Tunnels serve this purpose throughout the rest of the community where a highway must be crossed.

There are two homeowners associations in The Villages. The Property Owners Association (POA) is the original homeowner association. The Villages Homeowners Association (VHA) was started by the developer after the developer became dissatisfied with the developer's relationship with the Property Owners Association (POA).

The Villages has a daily paper, The Villages Daily Sun,a radio station (WVLG - 640 AM) and a cable channel (VNN - The Villages News Network). These media properties are owned and operated by The Villages.


[edit] History
The Villages started the process of development 40 years ago.[3] Over time, a Declaration of Restrictions has been created for each individual neighborhood, which regulates such things as landscaping, repairs and maintenance, placement of satellite dishes, hedges, etc. All homes must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older. Persons under the age of 19 years may visit for a maximum of 30 days per year. An Architectural Review Committee was founded in 1994 in order to control the composition and consistency of the exterior of the residential properties within The Villages. The committee, which is comprised of Villages Residents, is responsible for the approvals of alterations and modifications to the properties and homes built by the developer Committee members serve for three years and are selected by the sitting ........