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Article Courtesy
of The Villages News
By Meta Minton
Published November 13, 2018
Community Development District 4 is girding for battle as a
Villages couple plans to plead for more time to stabilize their sinkhole-damaged
home.
A Marion County code enforcement hearing is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 12 regarding the
home of Frank and Jan Neumann on McLawren Terrace in the Village of Calumet
Grove. The Neumanns remain locked in a battle with their insurance company and
have indicated they have no desire to move back in.
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Their home was declared uninhabitable
since the sinkholes first appeared Feb. 15.
The Neumanns are asking Marion County for an extension of time to address the
difficult situation they face.
CDD 4’s position is that allowing the property to linger is a threat to public
safety as the property has not been stabilized.
“No more extensions of time should be granted,” said District Counsel Valerie
Fuchs.
To make their case, CDD 4 will have legal representation, as well as testimony
from geotechnical engineers. CDD 4 Chairman Jim Murphy also will attend the
hearing.
The sinkholes could end up costing residents of CDD 4 about
$900,000, which will pay for the replacement of stormwater pipe and rebuilding
the intersection. CDD 4 supervisors earlier this year voted to raise assessment
rates by 20 percent. |
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Barricades have been set up on McLawren Terrace at the site of two homes
uninhabitable since sinkholes opened up in February.
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As much as the Neumanns and their neighbor, Doris Morrill, have suffered through
after the sinkholes forced them from their homes, their neighbors have suffered,
too, supervisors agreed.
“Those neighbors are going through hell,” said newly elected Supervisor Mark
Hayes.
Morrill’s property has been sold and now a contractor hopes to rehabilitate the
house, not tear it down.
However, Marion County shut down the contractor because the contractor was
working without a permit.
The Neumanns’ property is still within the 60-day timeframe to bring the
property into compliance with code enforcement regulations, according to Marion
County. The recent change of ownership restarts the 60-day deadline to bring the
former Morrill property into compliance per code enforcement regulations.
Marion County issued the following statement when contacted by Villages-News.com:
“Marion County Code Enforcement continues to work with both property owners and
the Community Development District to remedy the situation relating to 17086 and
17092 SE 79th McLawren Terrace.”
The code enforcement hearing will be held in Marion County’s Growth Services
training room, 2710 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala.
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