Community Development District 7 is poised to take action next month to limit the power of trolls when it comes to deed compliance in The Villages.
Supervisor Stephen Lapp has recommended setting a limit on the number of complaints that can be lodged in a single phone call, email or in-person visit to Community Standards.
He pointed to an incident in 2019 in which one person lodged 107 complaints.
“That is proof that trolls exist,” Lapp said.
He said that unlike Community Development District 5, which recently voted to stop accepting anonymous complaints, anonymous complaints will continue to be accepted in CDD 7.
“We want the anonymous complaint system to remain, unlike CDD 5. And I think it’s going to be a real mess there,” Lapp said during Thursday’s CDD 7 meeting.
He added that he has taken his stance on limiting the number of complaints because residents want to take away the power of the “so called trolls.”
CDD 7 Supervisor Jerry Vicenti also predicted all eyes will be on CDD 5 as it ventures into uncharted waters.
“Complaints will go down because they have to give their name. However, violations will go up because there are no complaints,” Vicenti predicted.
In December, CDD 7 will be in the spotlight when it votes on the official rule change limiting the number of complaints that can be filed with Community Standards during a single interaction.
Lee Gilpin, who lives in the Village of Liberty Park in CDD 5, has been keeping track of efforts to limit the power of the trolls. He warned that trolls are giving The Villages a bad name.
“It’s a sport. It’s nothing but a sport to them,” Gilpin said.
