Stained Driveway -ARC Approval?
 

Will I need ARC approval before staining my driveway? Thanks.

Call ARC as the approvals are different depending on where you live, also ask about restrictions on colors, etc. If you need approval, fill out the form and make sure your contractor follows it. Usually takes 2 weeks for review, NO cost. If you include your email, you will get a copy of the approval electronically.

Hopefully you will. A drive around north of Hy 466A will reveal that any color, any design, any pattern and most any coating is apparently OK. Apparently too, any character from Daffy Duck to someone's dog, to Tinker Belle, to Micky and Minnie Mouse, to the owners' initials, to a college logo, etc. and any pattern from swirls, circles, swoops, diamonds, squares etc. are currently allowed. Not to mention how poorly many of those driveways painted or coated a few years ago and not properly maintained look awful today; worn, weathered bleached chipped and faded. I'll bet somewhere there is even the apparently dreaded "white cross" painted boldly on someone's driveway.
Compare that to the poor widow who was nailed a year ago for painting her home a conservative color which had been dropped/modified slightly from the "approval list" the year or so before she painted (and apparently (per published accounts) tried to get approval but couldn't because the "powers to be" were apparently hiding behind their COVID masks and would not respond to her requests for approval or guidance).

Thanks - not a single neighbor of mine has obtained ARC approval before staining their driveway. On a side note, none have obtained ARC approval for their landscape work either, which I think is crazy. So far, I have obtained ARC approval for anything I’ve done outside of my home. My neighbors seem to think I’m a little paranoid, but I am a “rule follower”, or try to be anyway, and I don’t want any problems down the road. Funny, that some of my contractors don’t bring up ARC approval.

ARC approval is fairly easy to navigate. There's no harm in requesting ARC approval for anything and then you don't have to worry about the "nefarious" actions of others.

If you have obtained approval for anything outside your home, why are you asking about staining you driveway?

call it a PSA and leave it at that :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I jus flipped a coin, it came up heads............so yes, you should get approval.

:thumbup:

Bogie - I thought we agreed you wouldn’t address me going forward - I know my presence here really annoys you, and I can’t do anything about that - you seem to enjoy going out of your way to “put me in my place” - I don’t get it.

Just asking a question that you did not answer………
Agreed?

It takes little effort to go through ARC. Better safe than sorry if you plan to sell someday. I planted a small crape myrtle tree and received approval same week. Rusty from the Villages has a youtube show just this week on the topic.

I got approval for my driveway. If you look on the ARC application there is a line to initial regarding colors which includes “driveway coatings”.

I have three documents related to restrictions.

One restricts driveway painting for Villas but has no restrictions for Homes.

One is punctuated poorly such that it isn't clear if it restricts driveway painting.

One doesn't mention driveways at all.

District 1 is having a meeting this Friday to discuss driveway painting and whether they should re-add restrictions for Home driveways (apparently, these were removed in 2013).

Safest bet is to contact ARC and ask the question.

There's a house a few blocks from us that has a garish colored driveway. I've often wondered about ARC saying it was o.k. and what their neighbors think about having to look at it daily. I don't have to but do drive past it occassionally. A phone call to the office won't cost you anything just to double-check.

Michael, I will add to my previous comment, make sure that whomever you decide to use for your driveway gives you a NON-SLIP finish, and uses suitable material for this environment. House paint is NOT suitable, concrete stain (Xylene based) is suitable, and BOTH can be very slippery when wet if a non slip agent (like Shark Grip) is not added to the final coat.

Hi folks -

So this is more of a PSA as Dewilson said -

I just called the ARC, staining or painting of driveway DOES require pre-approval by the ARC in District 13 (and probably other districts as well, but you would need to verify). You need a picture of your home, and either a picture of the design you want along with color examples (no glaring designs are permitted, nor bold or neon colors).

The reason for my post here was:
1) Not a single neighbor of mine that I know has obtained ARC approval for the staining of their driveways in my villa neighborhood.
2) Several contractors told me “you can get ARC approval if it makes you feel better, but most people don’t bother with it”.

So lesson here - just because you receive a “majority” opinion, doesn’t mean you are getting the straight scoop - do your own homework always “trust, but verify”.

I hope this post is helpful to other newbies, and more-seasoned residents alike. 😀

I do believe you need ARC approval for anything you do outside that’s visible to neighbors. The risk in not getting it is you could be asked to re-do it, and be fined daily until you do. Not worth the risk IMO.

Yep, not surprised. It constantly boggles my mind how many people here in DeLuna make changes without getting approval. Some day it’s going to bite many of them in the behind. 🙄

I agree Nana- same here with many in Richmond -

:BigApplause::BigApplause:

Just did that.........call 352-751-3912.....they will check your district requirements.....told me to take a picture of it currently, fill out a form describing what you will be doing to it and within 2 weeks you will have an answer...best error on the safe side and check, its only a phone call away

ARC Approval
 

I would tell anyone - read your paperwork the villages gave you! Anything you change or added to the exterior of your home I would get ARC approval. It’s a simple process. Get the form and submit pictures to them. This is not one of those cases where you do something and ask for forgiveness. You will NOT be forgiven! Instead you can be fined daily until something is fixed.

Michael, he’s only pointing out the obvious. It’s called logic. Sorry.

I keep a folder with all my approvals in case I sell my home someday. This will given to the buyer.

It depends on what district you live in. District 12 requires no ARC approval.

We just had our Driveway stained a few months ago in Newell. We did get approval. We did it all online, never had to call anyone. You can check the minutes in the ARC meetings and see your approval there.

RCJ

We met with the ARC people in person to ask all of our questions before we did our landscaping. They told us you need ARC approval for anything you do that can be seen by them on the outside of your home. That pretty much summed it up for us that you need approval for pretty much everything. We had our landscaping done by P&E Landscaping and they absolutely brought up ARC approval and that they would obtain it for us. We too are rule followers and would not have gone with them if they had tried to persuade us not to get ARC approval. We dont want trouble after the fact by not getting it.

Legitimate contractors will insist on ARC approval. It’s a red flag if they don’t. IMHO

Update-

I was back at the ARC office this morning, as I needed to provide some additional paperwork. I asked quite a few questions (note these responses are only for District 13, you may want to check your own deeds for your own district.)

Inserting a glass window within your front door does not need ARC approval.

Gutter installation does not need ARC approval, as long as they are nothing out of the ordinary or painted an unusual color.

If someone has had work done outside the home, and failed to obtain ARC approval, but feels that the work they have done is in compliance with their deeds, they can submit photos and paperwork of the work they did, and if it was found to be “deed compliant” they can still obtain a compliance certificate after the fact (the worst that could happen is you may be determined not to have been compliant, which means no certificate of compliance would be issued, you would only be fined in the future if someone issues a complaint on you).

If doing landscaping work, you need a site plan - and you need to show the distance of your plants from your easement. I was never given a copy of my site plan at closing (apparently that used to be the case, so some people may already have a site plan) - if not, they are easy to obtain on the Sumter County website.

You need photos of all areas where work will be done.

You need proof of ownership (tax bill will work, or copy of your title if you are new and haven’t paid property taxes yet).

I have found the people at the ARC to be very professional, helpful, and most of all kind and empathetic. It has been a good experience so far working with them.

And that Michael is exactly the way everyone should be. I too have asked for and received approval for everything I have done, it's cheap insurance for sure. A couple years ago I was riding my bike and saw that someone had put 3 graves with tombstones in their front yard, I assume for lost pets. That would have been good for Halloween but this was permanent, they were made to take them down.

If you go into your user settings and go to "edit your ignore list" you can add/delete other users. Haven't tried it yet, but I've been tempted to.

I remember sharing my experience about heat pumps up north. A poster attacked me, saying I didn't know what I was talking about. Like he had lived in my house at the same time and knew my experience with heat pumps.

I didn't ignore him, but I did take time to say "I'm glad you had a good experience. It wasn't mine. Have a nice day". Sometimes, that's all you can do.

ARC is the place to make your inquiries. They are tough...granted they must be. But, they are fair. They are direct. They are easy to deal with. ARC is composed of your neighbors whose mission is to ensure continuity in neighborhoods. On every matter related to my home that was I was the least concerned about, I contacted ARC. They guided me well. Appearing before them was easy and extraordinarily helpful! They are to be commended.

[QUOTE=Michael 61;2234164]Update-

I was back at the ARC office this morning, /QUOTE]

Good work.
You will sleep better.

What I have found (have others??)......."you" get ARC approval, but they never inspect the final product to make sure you did what was presented and approved.

Jus say'n.

:evil6:

Sure if you have people in your area that are easy going, you might not have any issues 90% of the time.

The fact is that an ARC approval costs $0 and takes around 10 minutes to fill out. You have very little chance of not being approved so why bother not doing it? The consequences could be fairly major, like being forced to have the work removed at your expense, or making your home hard to sell down the line if there's non-ARC approved alterations that have been made.

/////

Interesting information you get credit for this………:wave:

Bogie - that was kind of you - thank you. 😀

Update —

I attended my first ARC compliance hearing/meeting this past week - very interesting - had two items on the docket (both quickly approved - yay!) - easy-smeezy -

I’ve encouraged my neighbors and friends who went forward with projects without ARC approval to go back and get them approved retroactively (depending of course they followed their deeds and restrictions) - Again, big thank you to the professional and nice people that work within the ARC!

I built here (St. Catherine) approx. 2 years ago, spent close to $1M. I decided to have my driveway painted as almost every neighbor. I asked around, including my TV sales agent, for the premier company in this field. The unanimous answer was Ram Custom. I called and they are scheduling 18 months out. Got on the schedule. The work will be done September 2023. The artist came to the house and we settled on a design. A very simple light beige, a little lighter than house color, with a palm tree shadow/silhouette in the middle. I would call it “elegant.” As for ARC approval, the artist left that to me. I submitted the application and drawing. We are more than two months since submission. I called and wrote couple times, no answer. Today I noticed they answer on a website. I located my application. Their response. Denied. Reason “not allowed.” I will appeal, I guess. Has anyone appealed here? Thought I was going to improve my property and all around. Saddened.

Call ARC. I'm sure they can tell you why it's not allowed.