Independent of Developer??
 

Ok, I saw this quote in a post by Ijusloveit on the Taxes thread:

The three oldest villages have become "independent" of the Developer on their recent 15th birthdays, meaning they are now more responsible for infrastructure costs.

Can someone explain this? Does this mean that at 15 years all villages become on their own? Do they still have access to amenties, etc? Is this in the rules and regulations.

Thanks, Army Guy

I must admit that I was/am puzzled by this, as well.

First of all, I would have sworn that the original villages (all on the east side of 27/441) were a h*** of a lot older than 15. Second, I've never heard of any such change in status.

It's true that what was Del Webb's Spruce Creek Country Club is now owned by the residents, and theoretically has no connection with Del Webb anymore. But, that is not a Villages entity!

SWR

Older than 15
 

We have a new house in Bonita,but I have an uncle that has lived in the village of Country Club Hills for over 23 years. So I know that some of them are older than 15. Dan and Nancy Allaire,Shapleigh,Me

I'm not a resident yet but have a question. Would anything change in this case? Since the homeowners have been paying property taxes to the appropriate county, wouldn't that county just continue to be responsible for infrastructure? I might not understand the situation so thanks for any input.

Well I am glad to hear that I am not the only one confused and interested in this. Also I agree I thought TV was older then 15, and think they state the year it started in the DVD. I will have to watch it again and see.

Makes me wonder if it is like our Timeshare works. When they sold all the weeks, the HOA took over the Resort Complex, BUT the Developer still has seats on the board since their name is still part of and associated with the Resort. That way it can't nor will they allow it to go downhill.

Army Guy

Seems like after the amenities and infrastructure are sold to the CDD, it is then independent of the developer ? Isn't that the case ?

chacam, I agree with you, on the sale to in the case of TV to CDD. But in most cases that I am familiar with Developer still has input. Don't know if that will be the case here. BUT, if it is true as another thread discussed about TV having bought more land to extend the build-out date past 2014, then I can just about bet TV will remain very much involved in all TV associations, boards, decisions.

Army Guy

The Villages started as a development in the 1960s - although I think some of the older homes were their from the mid 50s.

The Villages is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! 1959 to 2009!

WOW....I love that everyone hears many different stories....it seems like a big game of telephone.

I think that it might be helpful to anyone who wants to know the real story about the villages....they should attend the Thursday morning class at the Sumter District Office....which is located just under the water tower at Laurel Manor.

I believe the classes are held every other Thursday from 9-11....but I am not sure that the time is correct.

If you watch VNN...I believe it scrolls at the bottom of the screen with the time etc....


This class will teach you the history of TV's....and how the CDD's work....and which ones are VCCDD owned and which areas are Developer owned...and how they work together on certain things.

50 Years
 

I am surprised The Villages will be 50 years old..

The "official" start of TV is disputed (like much of history) since it didn't start with the grand plan we know of today. So not so much a game of telephone as differing historical points of view. Even the official website lists it as being run by the Morse family for "about" 40 years.

In addition to the classes you can learn a lot on the TV website - under the contact us tab and then drill into the commercial properties tab. Also the CDD website is very helpful.

http://www.districtgov.org/

I believe I heard from the orientation class that it started "officially" in 1971 or 72...which ofcourse makes it "almost" 40 years old.....

Many of the "official" Villages hats sold at Banner Mercantile say "Established 1972".

I'm holding in my hands the 2009 Citizens First bank Calendar and it has a large logo that says "The Villages Celebrating 50 Fabulous years 1959 to 2009" It was originally called "Orange Blossom Gardens" and it featured:

A country Club
2 Golf courses
2 Heated Pools
Club house
fishing lake
Bocce courts
Horseshoe courts
24 hour security
All faiths chapel
Cable TV
Free Bus Service
Medical Center
Restaurant
Tennis Courts
Beauty Paror
Grocery Store
Barber Shop

Neat pics of Spanish Springs being built in 1995.

Not many changes in the historic side in the past 50 years - except most of the double wides are from the 80's.


.

Has the original question of this thread been answered?

What does 'independent of the developer' mean? When the district gets turned over?

Thanks Russ, I was going to ask the same thing. It seems that it has been hijacked by the history question.
So now anyone.......What about the indenpendent village question when the developer turns over or do they turn over control.
Thanks,
Army Guy

ijusluvit never returned to this thread to explain what he meant by the original quoted statement.

Each of the Villages is governed by a CDD, community development district. The District supervisors are initially appointed by the developer. Over time, as the district is populated by residents, the composition of the supervisor board changes from all appointed to a mix of appointed and elected residents then to all resident supervisors elected by voters within their CDD. This is one aspect of becoming 'independent of the developer'. However, to my knowledge none of the responsibilities of that CDD are changed....they still budget for and maintain the common areas of that CDD.

Now, for full disclosure, my frame of reference only goes back about 3 years. I don't know if the governement setup in the original historic side is different than how it is done today.

Thanks villages07. You always put out good poop!
So does the CDD retain any Developer Reps? Like I said our Timeshare place always has a Developer Rep since the place still has the Companies name attached, that way quality is ensured.

Army Guy

Others might call it BS ... :jester: (just kidding)

The numbered CDDs eventually become a board of supervisors made up solely of residents, elected by residents. I don't recall how many years that takes and couldn't readily find the answer on the CDD website. It's not 2 years and it's not decades...somewhere in between. The numbered CDDs retain professional property managers (Janet Tutt, John Rohan, et al) to execute CDD budgets and operations. These property managers work closely with the Developer but are not direct employees of the developer.

The central CDDs that govern the commercial areas and oversee the amenities (golf, pools, rec centers, etc) have a board of supervisors elected by "commercial landowners" which essentially means the Developer's hand-picked reps. Residents do not elect these reps. Some of these reps are Villages residents but are first and foremost reps of the Developer (opinion, not fact)

ok, I understand now. Thanks again.

Army Guy

Villages district supervisor election process
 

The legislature, in creating Chapter 190, recognized that in order to maintain continuity of the facilities provided to the newly developing community, the developer, who then owns the majority of the land, should be granted the right to substantially complete the project as envisioned by the various land use and zoning approvals that were obtained as part of the development review process. However, the legislature also recognized that at the time prescribed by statute, control should transition to the residents. Therefore, at the election held in 2006, three of the five Supervisors were elected by landowner vote (one vote per lot owned and/or one vote per acre owned). The same process will occur in 2008. In 2010, one supervisor will be elected by landowners and two supervisors will be elected by “qualified electors” (registered voters) residing in CDD No. 7. From that point forward, all elections will be qualified based elections. This election conversion format ensures that the residents ultimately control the level of service provided to the infrastructure facilities that the District maintains.