Originally Posted by Steve9930 (Post 1277976)

If people keep bringing this up this path is going to be closed permanently. Leave this alone and everything will be fine. Keep bringing this up and some one is going to ruin it. I have no idea why people keep flogging this horse. There is no need to clarify anything. At this point in time everyone is just turning a blind eye but keep sticking the nest and it will be closed. Stop calling Duke Energy !!!! Go play some golf.....That's what you came here to do in the first place.

Originally Posted by leftyf (Post 1289985)

I just came acroos the path and Duke Energy has placed handouts at each end of the path. It says that Duke Energy will no longer accept liability for this path. They are willing to transfer ownership of this property to another party. If no party takes it, Duke will be forced to close it. The letter is a lot longer than this, I just reduced it because I don't like to type that much. If you want a copy, hop on your cart and drive over. To make matters worse, some idiot has put 4 empty gas cans where the litter bag is.

Originally Posted by Cajulian (Post 1293679)

Wow Rubicon! That's sounds pretty absurd. The Stonecrest and Del Webb communities have their own Rec Centers, Swimming Pools, golf courses, clubs, fitness centers that are equally as nice. What ever makes you think that anyone else outside your Red Zone wants to use your facilities? That is paranoid thinking.

The Villages public facilities are available to everyone. That is great for insiders and outsiders. Retail businesses need all the help they can get.

This topic is about the use of the Duke Cart path for Villagers, Stonecrest, and Spruce Creek. The Villages Lifestyle is not the topic here.

Originally Posted by rubicon (Post 1293878)

Cajulian: Absurd! I have pretty good recall and when all of this first started Stonecrest residents complained about the fact that they could no longer travel the MMP for their joy rides.

As for use of facilities again my recollection points to many a thread speaking to the issue of non-residents sneaking in to pools, rec centers and executive courses with or without the assist of some village residents. In fact ambassadors had to chase more than one non-resident off the executive courses which they entered by climbing over a fence.

Because I'm paranoid doesn't mean non-resident are not sneaking in:D No my red zone analogy is on solid ground Interesting enough for me is that it is not the act that bothers me its the hypocrisy of it all. and like all bad situations if you don't nip it in the bud it will grow out of control. A village without borders is no village at all

Personal Best Regards:

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore (Post 1293838)

Originally Posted by justjim (Post 1293553)

If the path remains open, those living outside The Villages (Stonecrest, Spruce Creek South, Water Oaks, and others, still won't have the same full lifestyle as Villagers. By that I mean, access to recreation centers, executive golf, hundreds of clubs, traveling in your golf cart to Squares, supermarkets, restaurants, etc. etc. However, if the path is closed, some Villagers will be impacted from using the path to get to their desired locations via golf cart outside the Villages. Of Course, they can use their car or if they don't have one they can travel with a friend or call a taxi. Obviously, residents of The Villages can still use the 27/441 golf cart bridge to travel anywhere within The Villages.

When you think about this situation logically, isn't that what we bought into when we purchased a home in The Villages. We have no legal right to drive our golf carts outside of the boundaries of The Villages unless it's legal to do so. The gate (instead of a wall) on paradise lane was put up to allow Villagers to travel in their golf cart where they had been allowed to travel (for many years) but this required traveling outside the boundaries of The Villages and on private property.

In summary, we as Villagers have no right to travel outside of The Villages in a golf cart unless it's legal to do so and those living outside The Villages have no right to travel inside The Villages in a golf cart unless it's legal to do so. It's should be noted that a Street Legal Cart might get you to a lot of places that a regular cart will not allow you to legally travel. However, monitoring these activities, will at best, be a challenge. I wonder if it is even worth the time and effort to do so? Fore!

Originally Posted by Allegiance (Post 1293884)

Build that wall.

But not on the Duke path. ;)

Originally Posted by outlaw (Post 1293908)

The big mistake was the group that took it upon themselves to "upgrade" the path without the owners permission. IMO, this was an underhanded attempt to claim access via prescriptive easement or implied dedication. Most likely, one of the users concocted this plan, similar to the attempt to force TV to open access through the historic villages based on medical access necessities, and even trying to get national organizations and US representatives involved. Duke recognized this immediately, and thus, the letter of impending closure.

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa (Post 1293852)

I must commend Steve9930 for remarkable restraint. I suspect that if I had made his post then my reply to the post of leftyf would have been "I told you so."

I agree with Steve9930 that it was a great mistake to continue to bring this issue up, and particularly to continue to bring it up to Duke Energy. The rational thing would have been for those who use the path to continue to use it until Duke took some affirmative action to close the path.

This is simple. If Duke Energy wanted to close the path, it could be accomplished in a couple of hours by bringing some earth moving equipment and plowing great trenches across the property.

The rational thing to do would have been to not poke the sleeping giant. This is a case where it was easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 1293492)

Yes, but they don't have access to rec centers, pools, golf courses and other amenities.

The streets are public streets. The golf cart paths are owned by The Villages and are limited to Villages residents.

Originally Posted by TVMayor (Post 1294029)

If a person brings a golf cart on a trailer to TV, unloads it behind the Rialto Theater and drives around The Villages for the day, they can not drive on the golf cart paths???? What if they rent a cart???

Originally Posted by TVMayor (Post 1294029)

If a person brings a golf cart on a trailer to TV, unloads it behind the Rialto Theater and drives around The Villages for the day, they can not drive on the golf cart paths???? What if they rent a cart???

Originally Posted by Steve9930 (Post 1294103)

The Doc needs a dose of reality. Hey Doc, they rent carts everyday to non-villagers, there are LSV carts on those paths everyday and they are not villagers. I have rented a cart and taken guess visiting on a days journey through the villages. There is no way to keep outsiders off the paths because they are not secured. Now percentage wise of villagers versus non-villagers is very very very small but it is going on daily.

Originally Posted by TVMayor (Post 1294029)

If a person brings a golf cart on a trailer to TV, unloads it behind the Rialto Theater and drives around The Villages for the day, they can not drive on the golf cart paths???? What if they rent a cart???

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore (Post 1293752)

Excellent point.

While I am one of those that don't use that path/trail and have no vested interest, as a decent and caring human being I would like to see those who do need it...be able to keep using it.

Some of the comments here that in essence are saying (paraphrasing).. "we are the true Villagers and would rather see other Villagers lose their use of it, rather than have an 'outsider' use 'our' paths/MMP's"...seems pretty cold-hearted and selfish to me. :(

I mean really, other than a few more carts that would be impossible to distinguish from the hordes already here...what difference does it really make? :ohdear:

But hey, that's just my opinion and observation. :shrug:

Here's hoping that a viable solution is put in place and those who now use it...will be able to continue to do so. :thumbup: