Editor’s Note: This information was included in this week’s Welcome Wednesday program at the District Office.
Whether you are repainting your home or villa, adding a pool enclosure, pergola, arbor, trellis, additional landscaping, painting or coloring your driveway and/or walk it may be necessary to submit a Modification/Alteration Form for approval.
• The Community Standards Department receives a request from the property owner to improve their property and provides staff with the application form, a site plan showing the placement of the house, property lines and easements and elevation drawings if the modification is to change the footprint of the home.
• If the application is received by noon on Thursday, the request will be heard the following Wednesday with results available on Thursday.
• The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) consists of ten (10) members from the Lady Lake / Lake County portion of The Villages and Village Community Development Districts 1 through 9 that are appointed by their respective District Board of Supervisors.
• Once the ARC has reviewed the applications they are either approved or denied.
• The results are placed on the district website at www.district gov.org.
• Staff contacts any property owner who indicates they would like to be contacted with the results.
• If the application is denied and the denial is for additional information and the ARC receives the requested information, i.e. contractor/property owner to attend, the application is typically approved.
• The ARC meets every week on Wednesday, 8:00 a.m., 984 Old Mill Run, The Villages and the meetings are open to the public.
• There is no charge by the District for this process.
• If you live in a home and would like to have a tree removed in excess of four (4) inches in
diameter, architectural approval is required prior to removing or effectively removing any tree.
• If the requested tree is a canopy tree those requests are provided to our arborist for a report and once completed are provided to staff for the ARC’s review at their next meeting.
• If you live in a courtyard or patio villa, architectural approval is not required for tree removals. Generally a tree that matures at over 30 feet and is not a palm or conifer is considered a canopy tree.
Per the arborist, below is a list of the most commonly used canopy trees:
Live Oak, Shumard Oak, Laurel Oak, Southern Magnolia, Little Gem Magnolia, Drake Elm, Chinese Elm, Allee Elm, Winged Elm, Red Maple
For additional information regarding the architectural application process, contact the Community Standards Department at 352-751-3912 or visit the website at www.districtgov.org.
