Looks like the concrete is still "green".
20 or 30 people could probably push it over. :highfive:

We tried to go to Walmart this morning and yes indeed there was a cement wall there. Alot of folks had to back up and were really upset. My thoughts are why didn't they notify us in someway that this was going to happen! It wouldn't have been such a shock! How do we get to Walmart now???

Here's a link for photos of the wall: wall_zps4150e472.jpg Photo by bkcunningham1 | Photobucket

Uh, maybe your car? If you do not have a car, there is a taxi. You never were promised a golf cart path to businesses outside The Villages.

What about the poor woman this morning who had no car and couldn't afford a taxi ? What is she supposed to do? Bum rides from neighbors everytime she wants to shop or go to the Dr?

I think there was an implied contract to everyone who bought a house there with cart access already established.

[QUOTE=joycem;723194]THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE SHAME...they cut off our access to all the stores and especially the urgent care facility..."

If I ever get hurt and need to get to an Urgent Care facility, I...

a) probably would not be at the ER to get a shuttle, and

2) wouldn't want someone taking me to it in a golf cart!

you will have to go to the developer's/village's walmart at the end of 466 - by golden corral. will hafta use their lowe's store and bealls, too.

bkcunningham posted the sign/gate yesterday...donn't know what day it was put up there.

I'm sad to hear this. We were going to Lowe's for flowers today but changed our minds. The poor people who are now stranded on the wrong side have a problem. Of course they didn't advertise the closing, they knew there would be an uproar. Yes, it looks like they constructed a continuation of the wall where once there was an opening, there is no way around it.:grumpy:

By car.

PLEASE. The church had one service a week and rotating leaders doing it. It was always a venue for musical performances. It was enlarged because people wanted it enlarged and Mark Morse volunteered to make it bigger a couple of years ago but the committee wanting a lollapalooza performance center initially turned him down because it wasn't big enough. So it is now being enlarged because people wanted a bigger place. The performances there range from just a couple of bucks to quite a lot for season tickets to the Villages Philharmonic which is incredibly good and a plus for our community.

Let's not get off track here. Can someone post a map of the new Berlin wall and where it is in relation to the rest of the world so we can all be hysterical?

Duffy's mom. Can't people cross the street there on 441? Wasn't that a new deal that you could? Couldn't people cross the golf cart bridge then to go out and get home? They can't get to Lowes by golf cart but they aren't like REALLY stranded there, are they?

I am waiting to understand this better. Where is MeMason with a map??? Or someone who is map savvy? We need a map before the uprising.

Catch-22 - I can't get to Lowes now because I don't have a car...

...although a number of people (not affected by this wall issue) seem to be offering free lifts in their cars, unless I'm mis-reading their posts?

artic fox - there is both a walmart and a lowe's on 466 out by the golden corral restaurant that can be reached by golf cart...not as convenient as 441...but now your $$ can be kept within the villages. there is a bells out there, too.

I wasn't promised anything when I bought here - not a cart bridge over 441, not a tunnel under 466, not a causeway across Lake Sumter - but I have a right to feel aggrieved when something that was in place when I bought is suddenly taken away

with no alternative provided

with no notice or consultation

and probably solely for commercial reasons

I bought here because I could get everywhere I wanted in my golf cart without the need for a car - change that and you change the whole atmosphere of The Villages

The sad thing is that the developer of the new assisted living development on the way to Lowes seemed to go out of his way to ensure continued golf cart access - I even had high hopes that the whole route would eventually be on paved roads.


Many Villagers living south of 466 have probably never used the path that has been blocked, so may not be able to empathize with those of us who used it regularly as a part of our normal routine

It will be a major loss to us

Nope, there is NO Lowe's there.

I do prefer the 466 Walmart anyway (and I wasn't aware that there is a Lowe's out there - where is it, in relation to the WalMart?) but I do like Aldi's for fresh fruit and veg.

Not the end of the World - at least, not for me - but a shame that the change has been made, and in such an underhand way

who knows what will be next?

That is a bummer for sure. Will be interesting if we ever learn why. I I have the correct place, here a map showing the cart path....

Click on the link then zoom in or out

Existing golf cart path

gracie - here's the link to the carting in the villages map: Carting The Villages -Home

slide the map over until you see the golf cart bridge over 441; now imagine coming over the bridge and making a left onto paradise dr.; follow along the green route to the blue thingie just past the tacks for the paradise rec center on the right and softball fields on the left; the blue thingie is the path where the wal has been erected blocking continued travel on to the shopping centers for rt 441 lowe's, walmart, cracker barrel, sonic, etc. hope ya know where you are new! ;)

and no - as of today one cannot cross 441 in any area of the villages - unless and until the county gives permission to do so. only 441 crossing is up the road aways - in summerfield, i think.

Looking at the pictures, it appears the wall is off Villages property. Perhaps the owner of the property that connects to the Villages wanted golf cart traffic stopped.

thanx for the correction, champion6! now i have revealed my prowess with home improvement project! good thing i can fix most anything with one finger - and a phone!

TV owns the property on BOTH SIDES. The south side is obviously TV residential. Parcel on the north side is owned by TV Regional Hospital.

Gracie I suggest you read this history of St. George Episcopal Church of The Villages, how it was started and how they held their weekly services at the Church on the Square for nearly five years. Their congregation and first priest had input into the design of the Church on the Square and the Episcopal Diocese even gave the developer a $25,000 "start-up" loan for construction (the loan was repaid).

So I'm not too sure about your assertion that the Church on the Square was always a venue for musical performances.

History

Yea! don't forget use scooter drivers also. we want to be treated like all other villager's and not be discriminated again just cause we choose scooters. Equal rights for ALL"""""

So the people that have golf carts stuck on the other side of the wall have absolutely no way of getting their carts home except for having them hauled by truck, correct?

PS: Are you the mysterious power ball winner that hasn't come forward yet?

janmcn - that's what i guessed! have not heard of a resolution to that one yet.

p.s.: wish that i was that winner! i would have taken over the hilltop restaurant and tiki bar!!! :)

I thought that I read that one of the provisions in building the new residential care facility in that area was to not only assure cart access to the Lowes/Beals and points south ... but to improve what had been a long bumpy dirt path??

The cavalier attitude of several posters on this thread that have not relied on this cart access is sad. I would say disappointing, but I have come to expect it from them .... however, I will no longer have to read their postings unless someone quotes them.

Food For Thought
 

I think there was an established easement, from Wikipedia

"Easement by estoppel

When a property owner misrepresents the existence of an easement while selling a property and does not include an express easement in the deed to the buyer, the court may step in and create an easement. Easements by estoppel generally look to any promises not made in writing, any money spent by the benefiting party in reliance on the representations of the burdened party. If the court finds that the buyer acted in good faith and relied on the seller's promises, the court will create an easement by estoppel.

For example: Ray sells land to Joe on the promise that Joe can use Ray's driveway and bridge to the main road at anytime, but Ray does not include the easement in the deed to the land. Joe, deciding that the land is now worth the price, builds a house and connects a garage to Ray's driveway. If Ray (or his successors) later decides to gate off the driveway and prevents Joe (or Joe's successors) from accessing the driveway, a court would likely find an easement by estoppel.

Because Joe purchased the land assuming that there would be access to the bridge and the driveway and Joe then paid for a house and a connection, Joe can be said to rely on Ray's promise of an easement. Ray materially misrepresented the facts to Joe. In order to preserve equity, the court will likely find an easement by estoppel.

On the other hand, if Ray had offered access to the bridge and driveway after selling Joe the land, there may not be an easement by estoppel. In this instance, it is merely inconvenient if Ray revokes access to the driveway. Joe did not purchase the land and build the house in reliance on access to the driveway and bridge. Joe will need to find a separate theory to justify an easement."

Closing
 

Great post Arctic Fox! As to access...I have faith that the Villagers will find a way to get there. Legal or not. Safe or not...I have already seen this.
Just wish we knew who and what was behind this .

Closing
 

Great post Arctic Fox.
As to access...I am sure Villages will find a way to get there. Legal or not. Safe or not. I have already seen this .
Just wish i knew the reasoning behind this.

Isn't it interesting that this change was scheduled for 6:00am Saturday morning when all the management offices are closed for the week-end, and no one is available to answer any questions or complaints?

It seems that the Sumter County Sheriff's Office could be called out to assist these cart drivers cross at the light at Lowe's in order to get their carts back home. If they can't, these carts may not be there tomorrow.

This change also effects Stonecrest residents. They will no longer be able to visit the restaurants and shops by golf cart or play golf in TV using their own golf carts.

I would not want to be the person(s) answering the phones at the various offices that people will be calling on Monday morning...

The sign they put up was so devious: Construction alert. This path will be closed at 6:00am Sat Aug 10th. Why did they not add for good or forever? Why no advance notice? Construction alert makes it sound temporary.

Before we break out the torches and pitch forks to storm the Dark Lord's castle, you may want to look at the Sumter GIS. I'm not an expert on surveying and property lines, but there's a piece of property where Life Family Practice and Lake ENT are located. If their property includes 1/2 of the circle (which it would if the circle is on an easement), then they could be justified in asking for the path to be closed.

Yeah, it was a sucky way of doing it, but then again, no matter how you shake and bake it, we don't own that chunk of real estate and may or may not have a claim on its use as a cart trail.

If you look at the 2013 $5 map, you will note that it doesn't show a cart path there.

I agree.
This has been planned for awhile.
A construction crew does not show up with a precast concrete wall and have it installed in a couple hours, without alot of planning...

I did. St. George apparently started in a tent, used two different Villages rec halls and used the church on the square for five years, then built it's own building. In this history it mentions the building was used for a musical venue. The 25K was refunded to the priest if I read this correctly.

I could be horribly wrong and sometimes I am only mostly wrong, but I do think that the church was built as a part of the presentation of a typical old Spanish town that always had a church. If you check back you will see that Harold Schwartz the founder, funded a good deal of the musical presentations from the start at The Church on the Square..

Here is a copy of part of the history of St. George Church you linked above;

The Episcopal congregation shared the building with a non-denominational service and other musical celebrations.


English Ivy. Did you move to Texas? Do you miss The Villages?

bump

If the Life Family Practice asked for this golf cart path be closed, why was this never published in the Daily Sun so that people could plan ahead and not get stuck behind a cement wall in their golf carts? It seems it would be better PR to put the reason out there ahead of time.

If I'm looking at the correct area, it appears there are two paths after exiting Paradise Dr. One that passes in front of the new construction and uses the access road toward it before turning toward Lowes. The other passes behind the construction site before going toward Lowes. So maybe there is a liability concern with carts mixing with construction activity and the contractor called for eliminating carts.

That's not say it couldn't have been coordinated better with residents. It is certainly common knowledge that residents, especially those on the historic side, regularly use that method for many services. And it would be prudent for better communication should the change be permanent. Right Daily Sun?