COURTESY : The Orlando Sentinel
Published August 24, 2003 
Staff Reports

Lady Lake Town Commissioner Henryka Presinzano wondered aloud during her report at the commission meeting Monday: Why doesn't a "Welcome to Lady Lake" sign greet motorists entering the north side of town?

It turns out that the problem is finding a home for such a sign.

Private property borders the major roads leading into Lady Lake on all sides. Property owners on the south side of town graciously allowed Lady Lake to put up a welcome.

But The Villages, the only property owner at the north and west entrances to town, won't allow any signs, Commissioner Johanna Perrigo said.

"That's not what we call the 'Good Neighbor' policy," Presinzano said.

She followed up by chatting with Villages officials and reported back.

"They don't want to be Lady Lake," she said. "I respect that. I understand it's private property. I would have liked for them to agree, but it's their choice."

A resident of both The Villages and Lady Lake who was at Monday's meeting said she doesn't understand The Villages' position.

"It sort of shocked me that The Villages just said no," said Sonja Morrell, who moved to the retirement community 11 years ago from New York. "I didn't live a split life like this before I moved here. I guess they don't like to acknowledge the town of Lady Lake, but I don't see why The Villages needs to be Villages here, Villages there -- they're everywhere."

Asked about the community's failure to play nice with Lady Lake, Villages Vice President Gary Lester responded in a terse e-mail: "We don't have any comment."

Golf-cart rules won't get 'weird details'

After Lady Lake turned golf-cart drivers loose after dark, Police Chief Ed Nathanson was overwhelmed by phone calls.

That's because a new town ordinance that allows people to drive golf carts at night also put restrictions on the vehicles -- it requires them to be equipped with "reflective devices."

"We have been inundated with calls for clarification about the issue," Nathanson told commissioners at Monday's meeting. He asked commissioners to adopt standard recommendations for reflectors.

But commissioners chose not to make Nathanson's life any easier. Mayor Mike Francis and Commissioner John Davis said they didn't want to see "weird details" restricting dimensions, color or placement of the reflectors.

"I'm not trying to split hairs, sir," Nathanson told Francis in his defense. "I'm just trying to be safe."