A Villager is back in compliance after removing an illicit addition at his home.
Youssef El-Masry, who lives at 2164 Estevez Drive in Villa Vera Cruz in the Village of Santiago, came back into compliance on July 28, according to records from Community Standards.
The 81-year-old made two appearances before the Community Development District 2 Board of Supervisors, but failed to persuade them to make an exception for his Florida room which had been added to his home without the approval of the Architectural Review Committee.
He purchased the patio villa in 1997 for $73,200. He said he was offered the option to have a Florida room added to the home at the time of purchase. He said he turned down the Florida room back then because he did not have the money to pay for it. He said he and his wife had come from the Chicago area and “we were tired of big houses.” However, his wife was in need of in-home care so he recently decided to make the addition, essentially enclosing a formerly screened-in area.
After the deed compliance violation was reported. El-Masry went before the ARC to appeal for retroactive permission to keep his Florida room. The ARC did not grant his request.
