Then where do the judgement calls end and if mine gets approved and your's doesn't then what? I have a number of friends that live in gated and private communities and all have an HOA that make the rules and they are not negotiable. While they would all like flexibility they accept that the rules are the rules and when you know them before you buy acceptance should be part of your purchase decisions. I agree with you, this is our home now and honestly, the deed restrictions are a nit to the joy this place brings.

What are you trying to say??

Do you know if the plan was submitted to ARC?

Cheap shot...

The Community Standards Department is committed to upholding the high standards of our community’s residential architectural design, landscaping and aesthetics. The department has two divisions: Deed Compliance and Architectural Review.

You can call here:
Community Standards
Phone: 352-751-3912

Let us know what you find out.

South West Florida Water Management District
 

The photo of the landscape with the artificial turf does look appealing. It is unfortunate that approval was not sought before going ahead and doing an actual install. Over the years I have seen residents install putting greens and lawn areas that utilized artificial turf, only to have to rip them out because they have not been approved by ARC.
We are in a part of Florida which has its natural resources governed by the South West Florida Water Management District. The SWFWMD dictates what can and can not be done with landscaping, building... all kinds of things! You can catch their link here:
Welcome to the Southwest Florida Water Management District Home Page
There is a lot of information and a lot of free publications that you can obtain from the SWFWMD. One of the publications is Florida Friendly Landscaping.

Shirley Schwartz may indeed have to remove her artificial turf under the State guidelines, which the ARC has to follow BY LAW!! However, it should be pointed out that she does NOT have to replace it with grass. She can choose to utilize rock, which is in itself also not allowed by itself. If you include groundcovers with the rock, especially the ones that are recommended by the SWFWMD, she stays within the legal guidelines that govern how a homeowner that lives in a regulated community like The Villages can alter their landscape.

A very basic rule is that 15% of the landscape property has to be some form of groundcover. Good choices are Dune Sunflowers, Jasmine, ground Juniper, etc.. There is a long list. Also, that 15% is reflected by what the mature plant diameter (spread) is and includes spacing between plants.

You can have potted plants and meet all the requirements stated by the SWFWMD guidelines.

I would strongly suggest for Mrs. Schwartz to contact the County Extension Office on Rt 471 at the Sumter County Fairgrounds or talk with the Master Gardeners about her landscape options. She can achieve what she wants to do, just not with artificial turf.

Some other links:
Free Publications | WaterMatters.org

Residents | WaterMatters.org

Projects | WaterMatters.org

I hope everyone who reads this finds it useful, and if so, let your neighbors know!

No HOA involved....

Who are these Power-hungry people? Do you even know?

After about the 10th judgement call there would be a thread on here attacking them for their calls. Enforcement of the rules is easy to understand!

Changing your neighborhood covenant
 

You can get your neighborhood covenant changed. It has been done and there is a path on how you can do it. believe it or not, the ARC people will actually help you get the process started! Bear in mind, ARC is bound by laws that dictate certain changes that can not be done either because of code restrictions by town, county or state.

There is some leg work involved to get the changes done but like Rocky says:
Ya Gotta Wannit !!

I would just like to add. Posters should educate themselves on what kind of government we have in TV. There is no homeowners association..period.
Also implying that the Developer has a vested interest in all the Mom & Pop outfits running around cutting grass, exposes your ignorance.
(CW sorry for the hijack of your post)

To me, this is a no brainer. She should be required to remove the artificial turf for the following reasons:

1. She didn't apply to ARC for approval.
2. The artificial turf does not comply with the standards, and has been rejected before when others have submitted it.
3. We all pay for the cost of the system to prepare, review, and enforce the standards, so making arbitrary exceptions would devalue the process.
4. Having her remove the turf will serve as an incentive to ensure that other homeowners will follow the process in the future.

Artificial turf
 

So who turned her in community watch OR anonymous trolls?

Doesn’t matter.

Sure it does, she needs to blame someone other than the violator.....hahaha


"Originally Posted by yankygrl View Post
So who turned her in community watch OR anonymous trolls?"

Actually.....
 

Actually, my comment about the sod laying crews having approval was kind of "tongue in cheek", a joke you may not have guessed. As to it being a big assumption, I have to wonder who it was that thought that it would be a good idea to put carpet over a large storm drain and sod over it. I can't imagine a construction supervisor okaying this. I can't really think the sod layers would sod over a drain without being told to do it. So???
My intention on this thread was about finding out if anyone ever had achieved getting a variance, as we were able to do in our previous community. Apparently, one poster here says it can be done, but that it is very time consuming and labor (leg work) intensive.
Actually, one of my pet peeves is people don't ask permission, but when they get caught they fake ignorance and expect forgiveness. Whether the person in this case truly was ignorant and thought the people selling at the town square knew it was allowed, or if she knew it was not but decided to do it anyway, I don't know. I choose to, in this case, give her the benefit of the doubt. Still, if there is a remedy short of having to tear out the turf, I would like to know. I would never advocate knowingly breaking the rules.

We have rules. It’s that simple. Get a courtyard villa and put it in your BACK yard.

Fact: Inexpensive/cheap artificial grass looks poor. Better quality grass has variable length strands and colors, looks 100% better than the very uniform low cost grass. Get what you pay for. Majority are the off green blanket of artificial turf, if not put in professionally, rain drainage problems can occur.

I think it looks much better than people who covers their yard with rocks. Why do the rocks get approved & not artificial turf?

Drainage, turf doesn't allow water to penetrate to the earth below it rather it just runs off into the storm drains. Water seeps through the rocks just as it would seep into the earth below the sod.

It really doesn't matter if people think how great it looks.

It's not allowed and it wasn't approved, simple.

Well said!

Does ARC require a palm tree in each yard??????????????

Community Watch doesn't have that responsibility......

It's not the first time this contractor from vendor nights has been caught blatantly disregarding deed restrictions. Where's the sanctions of the vendor?

Looks like she also has a metal roof. Isn't that against the rules too?

Probably not, in the more expensive upgraded CYV communities such as hers, Alden Bungalows, Atwood Bungalows, Haciendas of Mission Hills and Atrium Dells to name a few. They generally add stone trim and metal roofs along with some other upgrades including a 2 car garage. Normally villas in those communities sell for double what other villa communities will sell for. However, the floorplans are generally the same.

Here's a villa in Atrium Dells with a metal roof, that at Buena Vista across from Brownwood. This is actually a rental for $109 a night. That to me, is more disturbing that a villa can be used as essentially a one night motel. I cannot link that website, it is blocked, I guess they are not an advertiser.

https://odis.homeaway.com/odis/listi...5a3398.f10.jpg

Nope

Not the First Time...?
 

A vendor from the Square was involved in installing artificial turf at a designer home in 2011 in the Village of Duval. That had to be removed, also.

It would seem that even in The Villages, a petition to update ARC regulations is a possibility. I think however that Villa areas remain under the developers control, so this might not be possible. It would be interesting to find out if issues like this could be addressed at a higher authority than the ARC.

Why are those your only choices? How about a neighbor that did not want Brady Bunch artificial grass in their neighborhood.

I would not want it on my street.

I think we should all have this and save water and chemicals win win

Good point. There is always a complaint that we use too.much water and that all the chemicals are poisoning our waterways. What a great solution. Someone asked what will it look.like in 5 years. Cannot look any worse than some of the lawns that are not taken care of. It is something the lawns in Arizona use because they have watering restrictions . let them keep it.

As to whether a rule change has every been attempted the answer is quite often. Does the ARC have the authority to change the rules? Absolutely not. The agreement everyone signs with regards to the restrictive covenants is between the property owner and the Developer (or his agent). He is the only one able to amend, change, add or delete anything regarding these rules. Has anyone ever been successful in securing a change or modification to the existing rules? I cannot say with confidence yes or no. Many owners come before the ARC expecting a waiver for their particular case. Fewer take their issues up with their district board. I cannot think of anyone who has actually stated that they have taken the final step in submitting their case to the developer. Most likely there have been at least a few but I have not read anywhere on this forum or elsewhere that they did so which makes me wonder why.

Whether it is a single property owner or "a group" as noted in the prior post makes no difference in the process. I have lived in other places where there were similar rules and regulations and the only way to change them was to get 100% of the property owners to agree. When is the last time you saw 100% agreement on anything (except maybe free beer or wine).

"free beer and wine". Where? When?

tomorrow

Hey Irishman, I'm half Irish myself. Do you paint houses? :1rotfl::1rotfl:

The Vendor is just trying to make a living but if this lawn ends up getting ripped up I wonder if the homeowner has any recourse against the Vendor? What a Clown Operation that must be. Imagine if they've been busted for the same infraction.

Where is the person who knows everything about everything when you need dat person? :1rotfl: :mademyday:

Pretty much says all there can be said or done. It is what it is and all of us knew what the "is" was when we signed the sales contract.

It would save me thousands of dollars if I had fake grass instead of the real thing, every year, so my thinking is that if one can’t afford the expenditures that go along with the properties in TV, or resent them, why buy here in the first place?

Pardon me, Counselors. I have one other small question. Not trying to be cute or disrespectful just trying to understand. Why other than it being against the rules is this improvement not permitted. I understand the approval was needed but why is such a beautiful effort kicked to the curb? What is the specific reason its no goodski? Is it a cancer-causing agent? Is it against some regional or state law or is it just that it needs to go because of the rules?

I don't have a problem with allowing it, if she followed the approval rules. But, I think the answer to your question would be uniformity. It's the same reason that CYV sections only allow two paint colors for the driveways, selected by polling the neighbors.