Residents have reacted strongly to the news that a longtime Villager has been forced to cut down hedges that protected her from light and noise for more than two decades.
Mary Santos of the Village of Valle Verde had been ordered to trim hedges on the backside of her property that she had allowed to grow to block out the sound and noise from the Rolling Acres Sports Complex in Lady Lake. There had been no problem with the hedges until an anonymous complainer contacted Community Standards. Earlier this month, the Village Center Community Development District Board of Supervisors ordered Santos to trim the shrubs down to four feet in height at her premier home.
“I for one think Mrs. Santos should have been able to keep the shrubs untrimmed as the shrubs were causing no damage to any other homeowners property. She had a legitimate reason for letting them grow,” said Donnie Hanberry of the Village of Fenney.
Hanberry also took issue with the anonymous complaint.
“This would be just another reason to do away with anonymous ‘drive-by’ tip reporting. In America even convicted criminals are allowed to face their accusers,” Hanberry said.
Villager Hillary Walla agreed that anonymous complaints have become a problem.
“Some mean-spirited person was jealous and they did this undercover. All those years and no one complained. Need to stop these sneaky complainers,” Walla said.
Nancy Re of The Villages also found fault with the anonymous complaint at the heart of the hedge fiasco.
“The anonymous complaint system needs to go,” Re said.
Villager Judy Dasta said hedges provide for a necessary buffer here in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
“The board was wrong to make the resident cut back her hedges if they were on her property,” Dasta said. “Hedges are needed here in The Villages, since we cannot put up fences.”
Villager Mike Kendall said there are many offenders when it comes to hedges in The Villages. Will they be next?
“If the people near the soccer field were forced to cut their hedges to the four feet limit when is this covenant going to be enforced throughout The Villages? There are many others that violate this. Take a trip on Morse Boulevard or Buena Vista. Practically every home on those two streets have hedges taller than four feet. Also the property just on either side of the multi-modal path violates this covenant also,” Kendall said.
