[JP]

I disagree that the 3rd generation of TV owners are going to fail. I've met a couple of them and they are top notch. This family had its roots in a restaurant in Michigan and know hard work and are super dedicated to continue making TV the premier senior development in the world. By the way, the flowers are paid thru the HOA---nothing to do with the developers.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by JP

I disagree that the 3rd generation of TV owners are going to fail. I've met a couple of them and they are top notch. This family had its roots in a restaurant in Michigan and know hard work and are super dedicated to continue making TV the premier senior development in the world. By the way, the flowers are paid thru the HOA---nothing to do with the developers.

By the way, there is no HOA in the Villages.

But I do wonder which CDD pays for the flowers. If each of the numbered CDDs each pay for them directly then fine. If the PWAC / SLCDD then that's a different story.

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by JP

I disagree that the 3rd generation of TV owners are going to fail. I've met a couple of them and they are top notch. This family had its roots in a restaurant in Michigan and know hard work and are super dedicated to continue making TV the premier senior development in the world. By the way, the flowers are paid thru the HOA---nothing to do with the developers.

Originally Posted by Bill14564

By the way, there is no HOA in the Villages.

But I do wonder which CDD pays for the flowers. If each of the numbered CDDs each pay for them directly then fine. If the PWAC / SLCDD then that's a different story.

A direct post by Don Wiley from the past referring to a rumor of reducing flower bed plantings:

"Having set through multiple budget meetings and workshops this year for several of the numbered (residential) districts, and PWAC, this was never discussed in any of these meetings. Specifically, this would have been covered by the PWAC budget for the Project Wide Fund, and neither the subject of reducing the plantings nor funding fireworks displays was discussed. The multi-year landscape contracts call for 4 bedding plant replacements per year and these contracts have not been modified to reduce the number of plantings."

[Laker14]

People who think it's a bad thing that TV keeps expanding are missing a big point. It is not a choice between The Villages continuing to develop and no development at all. It is a choice between TV getting bigger and somebody else developing the area.
The Villages keeps growing, and "The Developers" keep developing because there is a market for homes in this part of the country. If the Morse family didn't tap that market, someone else would.

So the question to ask yourselves is this: Would I rather have more of what we have in TV being developed around here, or more of what we have going up behind the Trailwinds Plaza?

[Pilodent]

This essay was way too long.
and I thought I would share my thoughts on growth. I have no obligation or loyalty to The Villages developer beyond the same responsibilities I have towards each and every resident and business in Sumter County, my thoughts and opinions below, come from looking at things from a business perspective and as a resident of the county and our community.



I aways love this question and it many variations. Here's my take on i
First, the developer isn't short sighted, and they know where this community is going and where they will build many years in advance.

They are very good businesspeople and know how to make a profitable business – this is not a sin or something evil, it is exactly how each of us were able to be here, we made a profit in what we were doing for a living and saved some of it for retirement. A business exists to make a profit by providing a commodity that someone else wants.

Some of the keys to being profitable in business are knowing your customer, having a desirable product that people want, these they obviously mastered. Cost containment and pricing are also key factors to success. For this discussion, “knowing where your customers are” is the point to delve into.

For Brownwood to be successful as a business location it must be surrounded by its customer base, just like Lake Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs. As we see it today with the building of Richmond, St. Johns, and beyond, that is certainly the case. Had this not been planned all along and they were truly going to stop at SR44, Brownwood would likely be located where the Turman and Roosevelt executive courses are today.

Brownwood’s current location would have been a mistake when it was chosen over 25 years ago (watch the next 30 seconds of this video https://youtu.be/_GHKaJd-wKk?t=133 ) had they not been planning to move south of SR44. The problem was zoning, south of SR44 wasn’t zoned for this kind of development and until it was, Brownwood’s location was a huge gamble because it was out in the middle of nowhere Sumter County. Planning something like The Villages is multifaceted task that has to not only look at moving dirt, buying lumber and shingles, and building houses, it also requires looking at the economics of not only the end results but the process as it impact the local and regional economies, and understanding how to use that in the planning and long term goal process. Until many of the necessary things became solidified, “stopping at SR44” was a valid and true statement; they just weren’t showing their hold cards and what they were working on in the background.

I’ll sidetrack for just a minute here to the topic of “stopping at CR466A” that I’ve heard many were told or promised. This was pure ignorance for anyone to say or believe, and for some it was just dishonesty to hype sales. Let me explain, CDD5 was established on 3/19/2002 as the first CDD south of CR466, then on 2/10/2004 CDD6 was established, by 9/28/2004 CDD9 and CDD10 were established. The first homes built south of CR466 didn’t happen until sometime in 2004. So, if you bought south of CR466 and were told they’re not building south of CR466A, there was either ignorance or willful misinformation by the person providing the information, at the plans for south of CR466A were already well in progress.

Now back to SR44. As The Villages grew and progressed southward, it not only created new homes and communities that brought with it new commercial enterprises and a thriving economy, it also established and very strong construction industry that currently numbers in the 12-15,000 jobs for Sumter and surrounding counties. This growth created a growing and prosperous economy and tax base. A little long-term planning and thinking by civic leaders saw this growth as Lemmings running off a cliff (actually a myth created by Disney), with the cliff being SR44. If The Villages were to “stop building” at SR44, the economy of Sumter and neighboring counties and cities would feel a huge negative impact from the loss of thousands of construction jobs. The developer recognized this and planned accordingly and quietly for this.

Along with the job losses would come plummeting property values, loss of may more jobs as the workers moved away and took with them their families. Family members that also held jobs in the area; medical workers, commercial establishments, restaurants, secondary construction, landscaping, and many more. If you think that it’s hard now to find people to work, imagine how much worse it would be if the 15,000 workers lost their jobs and moved away.

Not all of course would move away, some would stay, but with few jobs, unemployment would go through the roof and as history has shown us, crime would also spike with the unemployment. Crime picks the easy targets, in the case of The Villages that would be senior citizens and lots of unoccupied homes (snowbirds).

The economy, crime, and unemployment are three of the biggest issues civic leaders have to deal with, if they don’t deal with these first, there is no way do also deal with things like infrastructure, roads, schools, and the myriad of other issues on their plates.

It is a difficult and delicate task for civic leaders to balance all the needs of the community, one cannot favor businesses over residents or residents over businesses, one cannot take an unwavering position on an issue such as growth without directly impacting, negatively or positively, other issues such as home values or employment. A great amount of flexibility is needed, and each individual issue must be evaluated on its merits and overall long- and short-term impact. In the case allowing The Villages to continue building south of 44, this was a decision that had to be made to preserve the economy of the entire area. We can now see in hindsight that the developer foresaw and planned ahead for this decision.

Many have said that Harold Schwartz would not have done what is happening today, I say this is bunk. The timing of what is happening today goes back to the 90’s when Mr. Schwartz as alive and actively involved in the planning and future development of The Villages. What we see today is a part of and a continuation of his dream. I never met the man, but I have spoken to many who knew him personally and worked and did business with him, they all agree that his outward persona of being everyone’s friend was true and genuine, but when it came to business he was a shrewd and as hard charging any of today’s business giants, and that business always came first.

Now our civic leaders, at all levels, are dealing with and addressing the domino issues of these decisions: schools, roads, businesses, and many more. They can’t over react or plan too far in the future as they have to live withing budgets that by their very nature, lag behind the growth, incurring debt to “get ahead” of an issue often turns to folly and a waste of money. The counties and cities around us are investing and planning for the growth, much of it is very well thought out. The perception of some is that nothing is happening, hardly the case, sometimes the perception of “too much traffic” is simply more that it used to be but sill less than the current design capacities. Many times there are additional issues that the average resident doesn’t know of or understand that cannot be ignored or dismissed before an issue, perceived or otherwise, is addressed; in the case of roadways right-of-way ownership and drainage are two areas that stumbling blocks that must always be addressed first as well as budget restraints.

Concerning other infrastructure such as utilities, this is a joint effort between developers and municipalities. Wildwood is currently dealing with an aging wastewater processing system that is reaching capacity due to the city’s growth outside of The Villages component. New apartment complexes, home development, and business are stressing these resources and Wildwood’s leaders have recently taken positive and decisive steps to address these. Fortunately, Wildwood is spared much of the stress on these systems caused by the growth of The Villages as water related infrastructure is basically self-contained within the development. The building of the massive Gibson Wastewater Treatment facility at 501/470 to serve the areas south of Monarch Grove down to Middleton an beyond, being done by the developer without impact to Wildwood’s systems is an example of this. The cities of Coleman, Webster, Center Hill, and Bushnell are also addressing issues of continued growth, working with each other and the county to address current and plan for future needs.

Growth is inevitable, how we deal with it is important. I believe that our local governments are now in responsible and forward-thinking hands, looking out for the overall good of the community and not that of a few individuals or entities. Many local activists and those on social media would want you to think otherwise, a very myopic and self-indulgent opinion, and not based on any facts.

To the many who believe things have gotten too big I ask you, did it get too big the day before or the day after you arrived? If it is too big for you, the roads go in both directions, but remember, if you leave, wherever you go next, it too may be getting “too big” because of your arrival.

Obviously this is a complex and involved topic, I could continue on for many more hours typing on the topic, but I’ll stop for now.

Please, if you have specific questions of me related to actions and plans of Sumter County, I would ask that you direct them to my county email address or call my office at the county and not ask me to address them here. I’ll discuss general topics, some of my opinions, and historical issues here, but always with an eye to being in compliance with the Florida Sunshine Laws and public records keeping requirements.[/QUOTE]

[Pilodent]

The essay on growth & development was way too long..

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Pilodent

The essay on growth & development was way too long..

Sorry but think it covered everything it needed too. I learned a lot.

Nobody forces you to read the whole thing.

[npwalters]

[QUOTE=kansasr;2197772]

Originally Posted by LuvNH

We are already under a holding company, The Villages Land Holding Company, LLC

Good point. If you think it is a friendly family run business - try to speak one on one with any person at the decision maker level.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Pilodent

The essay on growth & development was way too long..

Why did you repost the whole thing?

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by spinner1001

This is a straw man fallacy.
Straw Man Fallacy | Excelsior Online Writing Lab

Please stop. No one said the developer is doing things for only altruistic reasons, which is what you imply. That’s just silly.

The profit motive of capitalism does come with altruistic benefits. It has brought much of the world out of extreme poverty. Is it perfect? No, it has blemishes certainly. But other systems have performed worse.

It’s a time to celebrate. We live in the most prosperous and healthiest time in human history.




Nonsense. This is a similar argument that capitalism is not sustainable and will kill the planet. The argument is often made by anti-capitalists with socialist leanings. Again, capitalism has blemishes but things are very unlikely to collapse.

For those who want to learn more about whether capitalism is sustainable, here is a (long) lecture from a Duke University professor.
https://youtu.be/6dVSOIiO_U8

(I suspect that cherry picked counter examples are about to come.)

I am disagreeing with the line about our living in the most prosperous time in history. That would depend on what point on the income spectrum you exist at. If you are one of the upper 1% of US society then maybe YES. But if you are in the vanishing US middle class - then NO.
.........To prove that, people were asked if they thought that their generation was better off than their PREVIOUS generation. After 1970 the answer was most often ......a resounding .....NO !

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Why did you repost the whole thing?

///// reminiscing

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by rustyp

A direct post by Don Wiley from the past referring to a rumor of reducing flower bed plantings:

"Having set through multiple budget meetings and workshops this year for several of the numbered (residential) districts, and PWAC, this was never discussed in any of these meetings. Specifically, this would have been covered by the PWAC budget for the Project Wide Fund, and neither the subject of reducing the plantings nor funding fireworks displays was discussed. The multi-year landscape contracts call for 4 bedding plant replacements per year and these contracts have not been modified to reduce the number of plantings."

I could do without any planting of flowers on the roundabouts. Also, some plants are overgrown and from a safety point of view, they block a driver's view. Also, the planting crews trucks cause a safety hazard. Plant some Florida-friendly bushes that need little water, plant them back from the traffic, and leave the damn things in the ground !

[Lisanp@aol.com]

And the amenity fees are tied to the CPI, which last time I checked the developer also has zero control or influence of…

[Lisanp@aol.com]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

The Developers don't control your taxes, your utilities, or your insurance rates...

The only thing they control are the amenities fees, which, imho, are a bargain for what you get in return...

And the amenity fees are tied to the CPI, which last time I checked the developer also has zero control or influence of…

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Lisanp@aol.com

And the amenity fees are tied to the CPI, which last time I checked the developer also has zero control or influence of…

The developer does not control the CPI but he does control the amenity fees