More sinkhole trouble for residents in The Villages

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - There’s growing concern among homeowners in The Villages after another sink hole opened up on a property on Friday.

“We’ve had a few other sinkholes on our street but nothing to this size,” said Joan Hunter, who lives on the street where it happened. 

The sinkhole swallowed part of a front yard. And just a few miles away, the ground is freshly filled around some homes on McLawren Terrace. Several sinkholes were reported there in mid-February. 

“It’s horrid, it’s terrible… not knowing if you can rebuild or not,” said Doris Morrill, who still is not allowed to return home. 

Seeing all of the sinkholes is sinking in with a lot of people who live in the community. Many wonder if their property could be next. So people packed a question and answer meeting with the Supervisor for Community Development in District 4 Monday night to voice concerns, even though the meeting was not specifically about sinkholes. 

“There’s no agenda here and people are permitted to come to the meetings and chat about whatever they like,” said Supervisor Don Deacin. 

The place was packed. The discussion covered everything from how sinkholes form and who’s responsible for fixing the damage to storm drain maintenance and insurance coverage. And much more. 

“I just think that it should be clarified to the rest of the community, there are some strong concerns about the values of their properties,” Morrill said. 

Deacin said a lot of questions will need to go back to Villages staff. He also pointed out some concerns should be addressed by officials in other jurisdictions, like Marion County. As for details on the recent sinkholes, he says the facts aren’t all in yet. 

“We don’t yet have all the reports in from the sonar ground penetrating technical work that’s been done,” Deacin explained. 

He says The Villages staff will have a presentation about sinkholes at a board meeting on Friday.