A Villager has been denied a plan for a putting green that would have provided a way to save her $4,000 artificial grass at her home.
The Architectural Review Committee this week denied the application for the putting green at the home of Shirley Schwartz in the Edgewater Bungalows.
Last month, Schwartz appeared before the Community Development District 6 Board of Supervisors in a public hearing in a bid to save the artificial turf grass, which she put in without the blessing of the ARC. The CDD 6 Board voted 5-0 ordering her to remove the artificial turf and replace it with sod. Rather than give up, she came up with the idea for the putting green after a suggestion from a fellow resident.
However, the ARC members didn’t warm up to the idea that the artificial turf in her front lawn was actually a putting green.
You can see her entire application at this link: Schwartz putting green application
Schwartz fell in love with the artificial turf when she saw it at a home near Brownwood.
“Many homes already have turf grass below County Road 466A. Now with my problem everyone knows their neighbor didn’t get a permit so pitting neighbor against neighbor makes for an unhappy situation for all concerned,” Schwartz said.
With all of the publicity surrounding the artificial turf grass, Schwartz’s home at 1139 Edgewater Lane has become a popular attraction.
“I still have people driving by to look at the turf grass daily. Some knock on the door, others simply give me a thumbs up and others stop to talk. I can’t seem to get it across to CDD 6 what a perfect product this is and how many Villagers would love to have it. Plus, it’s all over The Villages now, so they have already lost the battle. When something’s good, it’s time to embrace it. When we get old we seem to lose the ability to embrace new products and change,” Schwartz said.
She said the beauty of the artificial turf grass is that it doesn’t required water and harsh chemicals like Roundup.
Schwartz wishes the Developer would get on board with artificial turf grass.
“The Morse family could make a nice profit if they would embrace the product and allow us to retrofit our home with this product. It could be a nice profitable business and help save this beautiful planet we call home,” she said.
The ARC also rejected Schwartz’s backup plan, putting down white gravel. She has been told to take out the artificial turf grass and replace it with sod. She pointed to other homes in the Edgewater Bungalows and nearby Creekside Landing where homeowners have been allowed to put down stone. She said it appeared her denial for stone is a “punishment.”
