I visited the Pinellas Plaza Villages Public Library the other day to find the book Leisureville by Andrew Blechman on display. As I had never read the book but only excerpts, I decided to check it out. It’s an interesting read.
The book covers the history of age restricted/ adult communities starting with Youngtown, then Del Webb Sun City and of course The Villages. Most of the book covers visits by Blechman to The Villages and his take on life here. As he was under the age of forty and with his view that age restricted communities are bad for society, I felt that he did a fair job of bringing to light different opinions on the subject.
Many of the following statements found on the Leesburg agenda memorandum of December 18, 2017 seem to address issues raised in this book.
The link is found here and starts around page 80
https://www.leesburgflorida.gov/Modu...cumentid=11256
“Gary Lester, on behalf of The Villages, stated that much of how The Villages was developed has to do with the people of Leesburg. Many people from Leesburg work in The Villages and The Villages are customers in the City of Leesburg. The big difference now is the direct impact of the expanded tax base.
For example, The Villages will be paying school taxes, but put no children in the schools.
They are also going to be bringing a transportation system and a use of multi-mobile trails which will lessen the impact on City and County roads, as well as being good for the environment. Mr. Lester pointed out that they are also very proud of what they are doing with the water conservation lines.
The conservation program and the use of dual water lines to every home, and the extensive use of reuse of storm water and retention ponds, has made The Villages what the state of Florida lifts up as the gold standard for conserving water and preserving our aquifer.
Mr. Lester also wanted to point out an intangible. For the first time, Leesburg will have villagers as citizens in the community and we will be blessed by it. There will be people involved in the churches, in charity, in the libraries. One example, is Sumter County schools. Wildwood Elementary School is one that has struggled for many years. It used to be a D school and has really has a tough time. Mr. Lester spoke with John Temple,
the principal of Wildwood Elementary School, and was told that the school is now a B school and that they are striving for an A. Mr. Temple told Mr. Lester that he gives a lot of credit to the teachers, parents, and to the kids themselves, but Mr. Temples also talked about the difference that the volunteers from The Villages have made in the Wildwood Elementary School.
Commissioner Lukich asked if there would be involvement in discrimination laws if they put age restriction on property. Attorney Morrison answered that there are specific Federal and State exemptions for over 55 communities, and The Villages have provided in the text amendments that they have to meet those standards.”
Both the book and this agreement between The Villages and Leesburg present interesting points for consideration.
