You must get ARC approval for anything you plan to do.

Not sure about sex on the square.

No, you don't need ARC approval for "anything" you plan to do.

Here's a link to the Villages Community Standards site. Requirements vary by district and you can see the ARC manual for each district. Base your decisions on what's stated there versus what is stated TOTV.


VCDD Community Standards

We used Sunshine. Required ARC approval. No wind holes. Two+ years without any problems. Good rain protection except you will get wet if there is a "downpour" or if the is any degre of wind.(water blown in from sides). Not cheap due to the custom frame on which the sunbrella must be mounted, prior to istallation.

Totally happy so far

Sunshine Awnings - the only company to use for that. They were the ones to research, engineer and present the product to the ARC for future approvals.

Another vote for Sunshine Awnings. They pulled permits and got all the approvals necessary. It took a long time from order to delivery but they are the best. Mine looks beautiful!

I have seen a few around the Villages and must say they got my attention.
When we were having our Lanai enclosed with glass I mention it to my builder if he had any knowledge about installing a fabric over our Birdcage .
His advice was the structure as it stands is build to with stand winds in the 65 MPH range with a screen mesh.To cover it with Canvas or any other non mesh fabric is inviting a disaster like turning your Lanai into a kite.Voiding any and all warranties.
He did recomend a tightly woven screen that would repel most of the rain water but would allow the wind to pass

Sunshine Awnings in Leesburg (352-787-4436)is the only company we found to do this work. They did an excellent job and we are very pleased. They are very busy, however, so hope you're not in a rush.

We also used Sunshine Awnings and are very pleased with the results. In order to get a permit they had to comply with a recent Florida code that requires such a cover to be able to withstand winds up to 135 MPH. If we get winds that high, I expect that the awning cover would be the least of our worries!

We checked with ARB before we covered our lanai, and they quickly rubber stamped the project. No problem there.

Are you saying our bird cages can withstand only 65 Mph winds? That doesn't sound very good. Shouldn't they be stronger than that?

We used Kilcrease. They do a lot of Villages work, and we've had no problems.

I believe at that point, the screens will tear out, and the wind will pass through the structure.