When I first moved to The Villages more than seven years ago, I heard that there was “No Soliciting” allowed and thought that this was just another great feature of our community. I was sick and tired of people knocking on my door in New Jersey to sell me something I didn’t want. Also they were not invited, but our town had no laws against soliciting. Recently, I have had numerous people especially landscapers knocking on my door and telling me something was wrong with my lawn. I realize that some religious groups sometimes come around but our country gave us the right to religious freedom but no one has the right to landscaping freedom.
Today, I noticed a car parked in the cul-de-sac and a strange person walking around. Our doorbell rang and the person was putting a business card from TruGreen in our door. My wife gave him the card back and told he there was “No Soliciting” allowed. He said he was not soliciting. There is a dove nesting in our breezeway in a jade pot and I put a sign up telling people to be careful because a dove was nesting. He ignored it and walked by the dove. I called Community Watch and was told that they get around the “No Soliciting” rule if they have a customer in our area. They said they were told that by Sumter County. If that is the case then there really isn’t any “No Soliciting” rule. If an electrician, plumber, painter, etc. had done business in the area then they can knock on everybody else’s doors. If there is a Democrat or Republican in your area then the politicians can come knocking on you doors during election time. Where does it all end? Where is our right to privacy?
Ed Sullivan is a resident of The Villages.
