A Village of Hemingway resident who has expressed wariness about the heavy hand of the Developer has joined the Community Development District 7 Board of Supervisors.
The CDD 7 Board on Thursday broke a previous deadlock and selected Ed Coleman as its newest member.
He was selected in a 3-1 vote, topping fellow applicant John George of the Village of Hadley.
Prior to Thursday’s vote, Coleman was asked about the Developer and the power he wields in The Villages.
“It’s the reason I am standing before you today,” said the retired financial analyst.
He pointed to reasons he is concerned.
“With the continued development down south, the Hacienda situation, the things that are happening in Spanish Springs, there seems to be an overabundance of influence by the Developer,” said Coleman. “Those Developer influences should be mitigated.”
Residents of The Villages are up in arms about 45 apartments planned for Spanish Springs Town Square and a nearly 300-unit apartment complex planned at the former site of Hacienda Hills Country Club. More apartments are planned at Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood. Despite residents’ heavy turnout at recent public meetings expressing their fears and misgivings about the apartments, the Developer has turned a deaf ear to those concerns.
Coleman has replaced Supervisor Ron Ruggeri, who resigned earlier this year. Ruggeri had been a fierce critic of residents’ money being used for a plan to spend more than $1 million to shore up the embankment of the Morse Boulevard Bridge. Ruggeri had contended the Developer should bear some financial responsibility for the work, rather than the residents being stuck with the bill.
