Unfinished Home Addition
 

There is a villa, in the Ruby Villas (Village of St. Johns), on Fraser Ct just off Meggison that has an unfinished building addition. There are a couple of partially constructed block walls, and piles of building supplies in the yard. A large section of the roof is covered in heavily weathered plywood. This may sound normal for a building project, but this particular villa has been sitting in this condition for well over a year...probably closer to 18 months. It appears as though a room addition was planned/started, and then abruptly stopped. This unit is not buried deep inside the villa community, but is readily visible from the cart path on the way to & from the Water Lily Bridge. I can't believe some of the neighbors haven't complained about this issue, but it appears as though nothing has/is being done to speed things along. Thoughts?

Does the project have a county building permit as required? If so, the permit has probably expired and the county can take action against the owner for violating the permit. If it doesn't have a permit, the county can also take action for not getting a required permit. So, the best place to start is the county building department. I think they can take legal action against the owner, and possibly against the contractor.

I know which house you are talking about they were adding on to the house and the construction company started a fire in the house, and has been that way I think close to 2 years. Not sure why.

Would it make sense to report to Architectural Review Committee?

Or knock on their door .

R U sure.................I went by & there was a tree on it.

It would make sense to ask Community Standards if anyone was interested enough. Another approach would be to ask in the CDD meeting for that area (not sure which CDD it is in). Chances are good that both groups are aware and are working to get the situation resolved.

If a contractor caused a fire, then insurance companies are involved and this could take a long time to settle.

So the owners are not just dealing with a room addition which can be stressful, their contractor may have started a fire and now you want to report them to ARC?!!! I'm willing to bet the homeowners are also dealing with their home insurance company plus the contractor's insurance company to see who's paying for the damage to the addition plus any damage to the existing structure. But go ahead, report any.

[QUOTE=Mrmean58;2365388]So the owners are not just dealing with a room addition which can be stressful, their contractor may have started a fire and now you want to report them to ARC?!!! I'm willing to bet the homeowners are also dealing with their home insurance company plus the contractor's insurance company to see who's paying for the damage to the addition plus any damage to the existing structure. But go ahead, report any.[/QUOTE]

Either way, the homeowners' insurance pays the owner and they get reimbursed from the contractor is a separate transaction.

There was definitely an extensive fire. Photos of it burning with many fire trucks involved were posted in several southern FB groups back in 2023, and I’m pretty sure it was reported on the online Villages news site. It was caused by a construction worker. Work has been done since the fire, but that was a long time ago, and for many months now it has sat untouched. Every time we pass it, including yesterday, we wonder about it and speculate it’s an insurance issue. Maybe their contractor wasn’t insured? Whatever’s happening it definitely sucks for the homeowners and their neighbors.

Its been that way for over two years. Kind of figure that it is in litigation and that has been the reason nothing is being done. I am sure the Villages are aware of the situation. Don't think it is visible from the Water Lily Bridge as it is right across the street where the new church is to be built.

If the owner has homeowner's insurance, they can file a claim. I don't think the owner can file a claim directly against the contractor's liability policy, especially if the contractor denies responsibility. The liability policy is controlled by the contractor, unless the owner sues the contractor, or if the contractor acknowledges responsibility.

The county requires a building permit for a room addition. I don't understand why the county is not prepared to enforce their own laws about building permits.

Exactly. No one knows the background to this or what’s currently in progress but lets “call ARC” and add more problems for the owner. Ya. Thats neighborly! Welcome to the Villages!!

If it happened over 2 years ago (Post. No. 12), and the property owner has insurance, there has been plenty of time to clean up the site, even if there is ongoing litigation. It doesn't appear to be an ARC issue. The county needs to take some legal action. These things seem to drag on all the time.