BEWARE in FP!
 

A small portion of The Villages is in Fruitland Park city limits.
The City just posted a stop work order on an ARC approved driveway widening being poured because they did not have a permit from the City of Fruitland Park. Whodathunkit.

Just because something is approved by the Villages - it is not exempted from local requirements. It's too bad the contractor did not obtain the permit or ask if it had been obtained before work started.

The company has been in business over 20 years, done work all over Lake and Sumter counties, and is the chosen contractor for most of Sumter County's concrete flat work. Ever think Fruitland Park never had an issue with a tiny wedge of concrete till The Villages ?
I have spoken to several more contractors in the area, and none of them knew Fruitland Park was requiring / issuing driveway permits.

:ohdear: Tried taking a short-cut...... how did that work out? They would know if they asked! And what does Sumter Co. have to do with any of this? You're talking Lake Co.

When whoever it was who circumvented the proper channels to do something they wanted to do is identified, please tell us.

It is the job of all of them to know what permits are required.

I think Fruitland Park is doing a fine job of policing the tiny bit of TV they annexed into the "City" . I posted this to help warn people who live in that area they may want to check with FP with every little thing they do. If you want to know who the terrible person was that mistakenly widened his driveway , just like his neighbor did 2 weeks ago , also WITHOUT a FP permit, I am sure you can call down to FP City Hall and find out so you can ... why is it you want to know who they are?

You don't need a permit anywhere else in TV to widen a driveway. Not in Lady Lake, Sumerfield, Wildwood, Leesburg, Sumter Lake or Marion County. There also is no sign in TV when you enter the area annexed into Fruitland Park saying you are in FP city limits.

I have been a contractor and a construction inspector in this area over 30 years, I am FROM Fruitland Park, and I had no idea. Just glad my friend let me know before I did a job in that area.

Hope I gave someone else a heads up.

That is absolutely incorrect. Sumter, Marion and Lake Counties all require a permit for any driveway widening project.

Agree....there have been a couple driveway projects done close to me and contractor did all the ARC paperwork and obtained and displayed the permits. I'm in Sumter and don't do anything outside without ARC approval and permits....I may sell this sucker at some point so having past work "legal" rather than having to redo stuff before closing is important to me.

In my almost 80 years the hardest thing I have had to do is admit that I may be somewhat to blame for most things that happened to me.

I know from first hand experience that you are REQUIRED to get a permit for driveway widening in Sumter County, this is NOT a building department permit, it is a STREETS department permit and it comes from Bushnell, not the local Pinellas office. Also, I was tipped off about this from one of the 3 contractors I asked to bid, the Pinellas building department gave me WRONG information. I reported this to the streets department, and they told me this had happened before.

Looks like you better verify that statement before doing a job in Sumter County.

I agree. There was a nasty battle over that very subject when a homeowner tried to widen his driveway.