A troll struck with a vengeance reporting 40 deed compliance violations in The Villages.
One of the hardest hit areas appears to be the Village of Rio Grande, where neighbors are up in arms.
Residents spoke out Friday morning before the Community Development District 1 Board of Supervisors at Savannah Center, pleading for some help.
Villager Jan Honecker said most of the complaints are very minor and concern landscaping. She said some of the landscaping that was targeted has been in place for two decades.
“The people who have had complaints have pristine yards,” Honecker told the board.
She said the anonymous complaints have the usually-chummy neighbors looking over their shoulders.
“It’s put a gray cloud over our neighborhood,” Honecker said
Another resident said the weaponization of the anonymous complaint system has turned Florida’s Friendliest Hometown into the “high school mean kids’ club.”
Supervisor Ellen Cora shared the story of a woman who has owned a home in The Villages for 23 years. She needs to relocate due to health issues. After all these years, it was revealed that her driveway is several inches too wide.
“She bought her house the way it is and now she can’t sell it,” Cora said.
She added that the homeowner claims to have spotted the infamous clipboard associated with troll sightings. When the homeowner questioned the woman with the clipboard, she immediately walked away, Cora said.
The 40 complaints can be traced back to an email address.
“It’s very obviously a fictitious email,” said Deputy District Manager Carrie Duckett.
Village of Rio Grande resident Kathy Glasby said it is time to abandon the anonymous complaint system and get Community Watch to patrol for violations rather than leaving it up to snitches.
“Everybody should have to be in compliance. We should have Community Watch going around looking for violations. It shouldn’t be hit or miss,” Glasby said.
