Arc approval seems to be flawed
 

Unfortunately, the ARC approval is flawed greatly.
Not only that Village homes are sold out of compliance and then
become a costly problems to the new homeowner to bring it into compliance, there are no checks and balances. The landscapers help the homeowners submit a permit so it is properly written in the permit for approval then it is the wild wild west in installation, which doesn't meet the ARC approval or the deed restrictions of the District. Landscapers do not have to be licensed under DBPR in Florida and the permit is done in the property owners name and the property owner suffers the consequences!
ARC needs to have an inspection process after the ARC permit is approved and the changes are made to the property. Instead, it puts neighbors in a feud with each other and in my opinion, it becomes selective enforcement when a complaint is filed when neighbors complain, in my opinion! This is not complaint driven as we are told, (complete NONSENSE) The Business model of Villa*e P*lm was draw it correctly and we will put it in the way you want in spite of the encroachment to the adjacent neighbor’s property.
Beware of Wendy and Bill's shenanigans, i have had to deal with these Je*ks for over ten years with the neighbors that have encroached my property repeatedly, if i didn't stop them over the years they would of come into my property, BEWARE of this behavior before going forward with any improvements!

Not enough homework. They DO inspections when the work is completed. I had them here twice, once for hard-scapes and the other after my lanai enclosure was completed. They found one issue with the enclosure that I had to have corrected everything else was fine. I think they do a great job if you follow procedures.

Not all people follow the rules. Not all people seek ARC approval. Not all people have good taste.

Your post is a valid vote for anonymous reporting.

Not all complaints are found to be enforceable.

So true but there are so many people that do not know that this is a game homeowners and landscapers play to get what they want. The District board is overwhelmed with this kind of stuff especially on a volunteer basis that the district supervisor work for.

Sounds more like a bitchfest against your neighbors than anything ARC has done wrong

You have your right to your opinion but this happens all over the villages and especially throughout adjacent villages, this is what promotes Trolls my friend! Some districts stopped Anonymous complaints which puts people in danger of retaliation.

I think the homeowner should suffer the consequences for violating the deed restrictions, not the contractor. That is why the homeowner should apply for the ARC permit and not depend on the contractor to do it.

Just be glad you don’t live up street from me . In court yard villa with one car garage they got 2 golf carts, three vehicles, and work van and can’t get NONE in garage. Parked on street and in front yard in rocks. Only thing missing is on up on Jack stands.

Who are the volunteers that are overwhelmed?

IMO agree but contractors should be burned also especially the ones that don’t submit for arc approval. IMO most yards don’t have that much to work with anyway due to the easement restrictions. I also think there should be statute of limitations, can’t come back after 20 years say it’s out of compliance especially after it been sold.

i was under the impression the supervisors on the board for each district where not paid but were voted in?

I believe they receive some minimal compensation for their time - maybe $250/month.

The CDD supervisors have very little to do with ARC approval or investigations. The CDD supervisors only become involved if a homeowner fails to correct an issue after being contacted by Community Standards. I don't remember the last public hearing about a violation in my District. There cannot be more than a handful each year.

Apparently statute of limitations applies to HOA's, not sure why not here.

statute-of-limitations-waiver-and-covenant-enforcement | news-journalonline.com.

Wouldn’t the enclosure be from county’s permit department?

Not a big fan of ‘neighbor on neighbor’ anonymous reporting. I believe in ....the accused has a right to know/meet his/her accuser. In civil matters like this, it eliminates neighbors pointing fingers at the wrong parties. These are not law enforcement cases and as such should not have that kind of protective cover...IMO

OP.....since you have a stated history with ARC, why not avail yourself to appointment to the committee? There are periodic openings and as they say....if you can’t beat ‘em.....join ‘em!

They know who the accuser is: Community Standards. You are confusing accuser with reporter.

Not really sure who the OP is complaining about here - is it ARC for not doing a post-inspection, contractors for putting in something that differs from what has been approved, or neighbors encroaching on your property?

It is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that all permissions are received and that the work done agrees to what was approved and that it is on your property.

ARC cannot be expected to be responsible for policing the thousands of landscaping and other changes that are made each year - that would require a huge department and then we'd all be complaining about the cost of that.

The current system may not be perfect, but if the property owners take responsibility then there are likely to be far fewer problems and complaints in the future.

I am of the completely opposite opinion. Contractors in a particular trade operating in a particular market should know and share the burden of responsibility to correct noncompliance…..especially here in The Villages. Alternatively you could just add to abuse of retired senior citizens

All members of ARC are volunteers = your neighbors.

The deed restriction document is unique to each property. Some of the landscaping contractors can barely speak English, and you expect them to download and read the deed restriction document for every property they work on? A lot of the landscape work is just adding or removing shrubs. My document is 11 pages, and I had to read some parts 5 times before I understood what it required.

My neighbors get at least a stipend to sit on a numbered CDD board, I suspect the ARC members do as well.

Community Standards, under which the ARC exists, has a budget of $700,000 for salary and wages. Either their four staff members are very highly paid or the 22 members of the ARC (including alternates) receive some consideration for their time.

EDIT: I heard a more official discussion of the ARC members being volunteers. This discussion about reimbursing them for mileage to attend ARC meetings leads me to believe the ARC representatives from the CDDs do not receive money from the salary and wages line. So the committee members are volunteers and the $700,000 goes to others within Community Standards.

Respectfully suggest OP tone it down a bit.

I just went through ARC last week for a pergola I'm building. I was pleasantly astonished at the professionalism and efficiency of what they do. They review on the order THREE HUNDRED applications every week, and they give each one an appropriate amount of care. As I waited for my turn, I watched them approve about thirty applications and reject two. They asked a few valid questions on mine, satisfied themselves, and gave approval.

Here goes . . I own multiple homes in The Villages. Please don't ask why! When purchasing one of my homes, there were multiple issues with the home, which one included the landscaping. After purchase, I met with both, the Builder and the Irrigation Landscaping Company. Both had their lips sealed, arms crossed, AGREED WITH ME and basically said there is nothing that they can do. By the way, I get "EVERYTHING" approved by ARC before I hire anyone or do myself, any outdoor project. For a new prospective homebuyer, The Villages / BUILDER puts / fluffs 12 inches of PINE STRAW, with over time you will pull out or pay someone to pull out. In my situation I do everything myself. This way, I know the job will get done correctly! With ARC approval, I pulled out ALL 28 Bushes and replaced with SOD, along with that Stupid, Ugly Pine Straw Fluff, which means the Dirt Level was 12 inches TOO LOW. Which also means approximately ALL 28 Irrigation Sprinklers are 12 inches TOO LOW. THE Villages, The Builder, The Irrigation Company all said the same thing. , , "That is how we build ALL the houses in The Villages". With all the dirt in The Villages, they would not dump 5 yards of dirt in the driveway. I WOULD SPREAD. Nope, would not do! The Landscaping Company said The Villages went to 4 inch sprinkler popups. They said they use to use 6 inch pop-ups. Take a gue$$ why? So, I paid for 5 yards of dirt. I also paid for all 6 inch sprinkler pop-ups. Did all the labor myself. My advice, ALWAYS get ARC Approval, do the work yourself if you can. If you can't, pay someone and hope your job gets done correctly with your approval. And yes, hope you get along with your neighbor. Who pays for what, who owns what and who is responsible for what ! ! ! Just my opinion !

If the contractor will not sign a binding contract to do the work per ARC approval, move on to another contractor! Make sure they are insured and bonded. Require the contractor obtain ARC approval and provide you a copy of the approved plan before they start. Make sure the contract requires a final approval from ARC before final payment.

"May not be perfect" is a gross understatement. There's a HUGE GAPING FLAW that makes it a broken system, not merely "not perfect."

If you buy a home that was already out of compliance, and didn't know that, and there's nothing from any inspectors saying it was out of compliance (because they don't include compliance issues in their reports), and the sales agent never mentioned it, and you are new to The Villages and don't know about the online deed restrictions availability....

you could live in that house for 10 years, with no problem. And then out of the blue you get a knock on your door from Community Standards, saying your driveway is out of compliance, or your landscaping is out of compliance, or the color of your house is out of compliance. And YOU have to bear the cost and burden of changing it.

Even though it was like that when you bought it, and you lived in the house for 10 years without any complaints at all.

What are the odds they were both ventriloquists? Both being able to talk with sealed lips, wow!

I think someone is not telling the truth here; the odds of them both being able to talk through sealed lips is just way too low.

Not petty sometimes!
 

I live down the street from someone where their house looks like Sanford and sons junkyard. A little bit further down is a mint green paint job and down the road in the backyard of a house that you can see from the street is a pile of old patio furniture and, indoor fans piled up on each. This is truly an eyesore for a community that supposedly has standards. I feel that these things could be easily spotted by the community cars that come by for At least an inspection of that address.

The community (District) has no cars that come by for inspections. Community Standards acts upon complaints filed by residents/neighbors/you. The complaint form can be found on the Community Standards section of districtgov.org.

If you're not prepared to file a complaint then you're just going to have to put up with the eyesores. You really shouldn't expect to rely on others to do so. That's exactly why the complaints procedure is in place. What is wrong with taking some responsibility for making your neighborhood look nice?

The majority of home purchases are presumably through sales agents working for the developer. It can't be too hard for the buyer to insist that the purchase contract includes the condition that everything is in compliance and if it is subsequently found not to be then The Villages Realty is responsible for putting things right. If they refuse to include that condition then that is a red flag.

Let us not forget that the vast majority of the 60,000+ homes in The Villages are in compliance and it is only the few that aren't that we hear about.

It is not hard for the buyer to insist. What is hard is getting the seller and the Villages Realty to agree to that condition. I would not agree to that if I was the seller.

I agree. And, I think the title company would consider it to be a defective deed and they would not agree to complete the closing with a condition like that.

Have owned a home in a large PUD with an HOA up North. The HOA hired a pro management company & they do periodic audits from the from curb without getting out. That reduced the variability of enforcement & compliance but it created the number of infractions—many of which were only vaguely covered by Deed restrictions language, if at all. Their answer? Create more Deed restrictions, of course.

It is entirely possible and probable that a property has been purchased, sold and resold, all while out of compliance. If no one, neighbor or ARC officer has found fault with said property, and the compliance issue breaks no law, is confined to the boundaries of said property and poses no safety issues to the neighborhood, has existed for a certain period of time (at least 2 years, prhaps) without issue or complaint, it should be grandfathered in as presumed acceptable. This could be where silence equates to acceptance.
This eliminates neighbor picking on neighbor and unnecessary wasting of ARC's time.

I live in a patio villa and have neighbors who have their garages so full of junk or a boat, they can’t park in the garage and don’t park in the driveway, so they park in their front yards. Some have rocks, others just ruin their grass. One neighbor had the front yard redone half grass and half rocks, with rocks closest to the street, specifically so a truck could park there all the time. I know ARC approved the plan, but for parking? I doubt it, but unless a neighbor complains, nothing is ever done about this. None of us in the neighborhood complain because we all want to get along, but it sure makes the neighborhood look trashy.

Take photos and report all to community standards. I don't like to live near a trash heap and I'm sure you don't either.

Maybe. Maybe not. Without a complete inspection of every lot, from the ground up, you can’t be 100% certain.

You are certain ARC approved your neighbors "truck" parking area?

300 every week is far too many.
Why not remove time wasting things from the agenda? Reduce staff hours and make the entire process more efficient. The final outcome will be exactly the same. How?? Create a "rubber stamp" policy. Automatic approval for certain routine changes. No need to submit any paperwork for things like:

Planting shrubs, flowers, etc in any existing planting bed for any/all items on an approved list.
Replacing mulch type in any existing planting bed for any/all items on an approved list.
Painting the house for using any color pallet on an approved list.
Replacing an existing tree with any tree on an approved list.

and so on...