Community Development District 7 Chairman Ron McMahon on Thursday urged his fellow supervisors to get out copies of their deed restrictions and be prepared to discuss enforcement at an upcoming meeting.
McMahon said he and District Manager Janet Tutt met with a number of residents concerned about neighborhood “trollers.”
He defined trollers as those who drive through neighborhoods in search of minor deed restriction infractions and then call in multiple anonymous complaints.
“We don’t need a bunch of trolls running around the neighborhood,” he said.
He said that CDD 7 is getting more than 300 complaints per year. Only a handful of the complainers give their names, he said.
McMahon indicated it might be time to revisit the anonymous complaint process.
“There is an option there. We could elect to not have phone calls. We could limit complaints to one per call,” he said. “The process of implementation. That’s the issue.”
Supervisor Jerry Vicenti pointed to the ongoing issue of little white crosses and complaints to Community Standards.
“You have all these crosses, many of them have been there for years, and suddenly a lot of complaints. There is something strange going on,” Vicenti said.
However, District Counsel Valerie Fuchs reminded CDD 7 supervisors that the goal is compliance.
“The only question is, is there a violation or not? It does not become, ‘Are 50 percent of the people upset? Are 75 percent of the people OK with it?’” she said.
Fuchs added that 99 percent of residents come into compliance when they are made aware of the violation.
She also reminded the supervisors that the anonymous complaint process is aimed at preserving harmony in the neighborhood.
