[LionelKing_43]

Last year I used my life’s savings to purchase my dream home in The Villages where I could live the active lifestyle with my peers. There is no doubt The Villages is a mecca with all the amenities but recently I ran into a BIG PROBLEM with doing something I love.

I am an avid hobbyist and love to woodwork or tinker on my Lionel trains in the garage. That is why I chose a home with a modest but adequate garage. Since moving I really have wanted to condition my garage with one of those Mitsubishi “minisplits,” because working in the garage during the Spring and Summer heat is way to hot for this old timer!

After calling for some estimates for the a/c, I just found out the Building Department no longer allows them in garages or enclosed lanais as of 1/1/2015 unless you pay taxes on the whole room. This is NOT an enclosed sun room I am looking to live in, this is my garage where I work on my hobbies and park a car. My neighbor had one of these air conditioners installed last summer in his garage while he works on cars but now I can't! When I asked what has changed all anyone can tell me it is how the building department is interpreting the code?


This is my home and I want to be comfortable doing the things I love….how can my neighbor have the opportunity and they snatch it away from me. All I am asking is that they reconsider how they interpret a code. I cannot be in my garage during the summer time even with a fan. Maybe this is something Villagers should fight to get back!


Sincerely,

Sweaty Hobbyist