Villagers cheer tough towing rule aimed at rooting out Bad Parking at villas

The Community Development District 8 Board of Supervisors has approved a new rule aimed at curbing parking abuses at villas.

Audience members cheered as the board voted Tuesday morning to enact the new rule during a meeting at SeaBreeze Recreation Center.

Sherry Soper of Creekside Landing said an abandoned car has been parked for a year in the guest parking area at her villa community at Lake Sumter Landing. Guest parking spots are often difficult to find in villa communities, particularly during the holidays. Having an abandoned car parked there 365 days a year, robs residents’ guests of the use of one of those precious spots.

This abandoned car has been parked in the guest parking area at Creekside Landing.

Jon Salemi fought a battle against a mysterious abandoned car in the Altamonte Villas in the Village of Pennecamp. That car had an expired registration sticker and a flat tire. He had urged the CDD 8 to take action.

This apparently abadoned car has been parked for months at the Altamont Villas — This abandoned car was parked for months at the Altamonte Villas.

For years, villas have been a dumping ground for unwanted vehicles. The dumper is frequently not a resident of the villa community where the car has been abandoned.

Villas have private roads, so law enforcement has no jurisdiction. The District Government has not had the power to tow away vehicles in villa communities, but community development districts are flexing their muscle and changing the rules so they can remove the junk cars.

“This has been a problem in villas as long as I have been here,” said Community Development District 4 Board Chairman Cliff Weiner.

CDD 4 has already adopted a similar rule with regard to towing.

“It works well,” he said.

A car found in violation of the rule in villas throughout CDD 8 will get a sticker, warning the vehicle’s owner that it could be towed. If the vehicle is not moved, it will be towed at the owner’s expense. If a vehicle owner has already been warned, the car can be towed if it returns. Reclaiming the vehicle at an impoundment lot could be expensive.

It’s hoped that the potential expense will be a deterrent.

“It gets costly under this new rule,” said CDD 8 Supervisor Duane Johnson.

Other districts have already toughened their rules, giving themselves the power to tow vehicles. They are: