The Lady Lake Commission got its first look at a conceptual plan for a proposed golf cart service center to take the place of the Citizens First Bank branch on Avenida Central.
Marty Dzuro of The Villages said golf cart service stations are going up near all three town squares in The Villages.
“It’s the one thing that’s been lacking in The Villages,” Dzuro told commissioners in a special meeting Tuesday morning.
For years, golf cart owners have had to make appointments with businesses to have their golf carts picked up for service appointments, he said.
He likened the new golf cart service centers to being more like car dealerships where owners can make an appointment, drive up and get service work performed while they wait.
“I think its going to be a great addition and it has been needed in The Villages,” Dzuro said.
The golf cart service center would take the place of the Avenida Central Citizens First Bank drive-through facility. The lobby of the branch closed in October 2013.
“It was one of the first commercial properties on the other side of 441,” said landscape architect Michael Pape, who has been working with The Villages for more than two decades.
But putting the golf cart service center in place of the bank isn’t something that hasn’t raised questions.
“Of all of the sites, why an existing bank site?” asked Mayor Ruth Kussard who in past meetings has noted the Avenida Central bank branch is where she banks.
Dzuro said it was a business decision on the part of The Villages.
The plan will formally be presented to the commission on Nov. 17.
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