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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Villager facing prospect of tearing up driveway after anonymous complaint it’s out of compliance

Margot Haught loves the home she purchased seven years ago on Paradise Drive on the Historic Side of The Villages.

She proudly shows off the hardwood floors and other remodeling she has done throughout the house to transform the 1989 manufactured home into a welcoming, relaxing place to live.

However, she is fearful that she will have to tear up her driveway after a neighbor’s complaint that the driveway is two feet wider than permitted and therefore out of compliance.

Haught recently heard the dreaded knock on the door from Community Standards.

She’s heard that knock before.

Haught believes the same neighbor made anonymous complaints about a trellis and landscaping on her property.

The driveway was in place when Haught purchased the home. She had no idea it was in violation.

The 80-year-old has learned the hard way that in The Villages, there is no such thing as “grandfathering.”

Margot Haught's driveway on Paradise Drive.
Margot Haught’s driveway on Paradise Drive.

Earlier this year, Haught’s neighbor, Doug Ollila, appeared before the Village Center Community Development District after a neighbor complained about a brick planter built four years ago at his house on Paradise Drive. Haught suspects the same neighbor who complained about her driveway also complained about Ollila’s planter.

Ollila applied on Oct. 19 and Nov. 9  to the Architectural Review Committee in an attempt to have the planter retroactively approved. However, the ARC stood by its assessment that the landscaping wall was encroaching on the five-foot side yard easement. In January in an appeal, the VCCDD Board decided to call a six-month “timeout” in Ollila’s case, during which the VCCDD said it would review its easement policy.

The plot thickens.

Ollila died recently. It was very sudden and there is some speculation that the stress of the looming compliance issue may have contributed to his demise.

The offending planter on Paradise Drive is seen at left.
The offending planter on Paradise Drive is seen at left.

His elderly mother, in frail health, continues to live in the home on Paradise Drive. She requires home health visits and likely is not in any shape to step into her son’s battle with the ARC and VCCDD. If Ollila’s mother’s heirs opt to sell the home on Paradise Drive, the pending compliance case would almost certainly spook any potential buyer.

Haught is in the same boat.

She said she has considered moving into a villa elsewhere in The Villages, crossing her fingers that she would land in a “live and let live” neighborhood.

But if she tried to sell her home on Paradise Drive, any buyer who discovered the compliance issue would likely walk away.

Haught estimates the cost of tearing up her driveway and bringing it into compliance could cost between $2,000 and $3,000.

“But then it would be something else,” she said.

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