[roob1]

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

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

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!

[EastCoastDawg]

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.

[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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.

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

[Rzepecki]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Who are the volunteers that are overwhelmed?

All members of ARC are volunteers = your neighbors.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed

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

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.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Rzepecki

All members of ARC are volunteers = your neighbors.

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.

[ehonour]

Originally Posted by Chellybean

Unfortunately, the ARC approval is flawed greatly.

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.

[RAHBM]

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 !

[bsloan1960]

Originally Posted by Chellybean

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!

[Justputt]

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.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by EastCoastDawg

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.

"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.

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by RAHBM

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.

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.

[Fetchit]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

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

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.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Fetchit

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.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by Fetchit

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.

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?