Officials are feeling helpless about a junk car in a driveway at a home in The Villages.
The car is parked in the driveway at 2234 Margarita Drive in the Village of Santo Domingo. It was the subject of a public hearing Friday morning before the Community Development District 2 Board of Supervisors.
A complaint about the car was received Feb. 16 by Community Standards. The property owners are deceased, the utilities at the home have been shut off and the property is in foreclosure with the Bank of New York. The home was the subject of a public hearing in 2019 due to overgrown weeds.
Community Standards recommended providing three days for the car to be removed. If the car is not removed, fines of $50 per day would be imposed.
However, supervisors recognized the futility in imposing fines on a deceased homeowner at a property in foreclosure.
“How do we intend to get rid of a car on private property?” asked Supervisor Bryan Lifsey. “We’ll be stuck with a car in that driveway forever.”
He reminded fellow supervisors of a case a few years earlier in which an abandoned vehicle was parked for many months at Savannah Center. Getting that vehicle removed was a long difficult process.
Lifsey predicted Village of Santo Domingo residents will be frustrated because of the perception nothing is being done about the vehicle in the driveway at 2234 Margarita Drive. He recognized that because the vehicle is on private property, its removal will likely take a long time.
“Could it be that someone just parked the car there?” asked Supervisor Bill Schikora.
Assistant District Manager Carrie Duckett said the vehicle is considered “inoperable” because it has an expired registration.
“We don’t know it’s inoperable. We know it’s not legal to drive it because of the expired registration,” said Supervisor Bart Zoellner.
The board unanimously agreed to move forward with the recommendation to provide for three days for the removal of the vehicle. Fines will be imposed if it is not removed.
Joseph Cabasin purchased the property in 1998 for $146,500. The property was transferred in 2014 to Dorothy Cabasin and transferred in 2018 to the Estate of Dorothy Cabasin.
