To the Editor:
I moved to Ocala 30+ years ago from Perry, Florida, because I had friends who lived here. It had everything you needed: Stores, restaurants, and beautiful countryside. It was quiet and a beautiful place to live. State Road 200 was two lanes and you didn’t have to worry about over crowding, construction, or traffic accidents every single day.
Now, it’s just a nightmare.
I live in Rolling Hills, off SW Highway 484. When we bought our house, we had two neighbors, both of which were a quarter mile away. Now, there are houses being built and the developers are ripping every single tree down and plopping cookie-cutter homes on the treeless lots or just tearing down trees to sell cleared lots.
Eighty percent of the homes are not filled with families but are just for sale. The lots just sit there growing weeds unsold including the one next door to us. I had to buy a privacy fence just to keep my home semi private from the people driving past and being able to see everything in my yard only for the lot not being sold because nobody can afford it.
The crime is horrible.
I don’t even want to sit out on my porch to enjoy what was beautiful peaceful nature because even though I still have several trees and plants in my yard, I still have neighbors who know when someone is coming and going or when we are or are not home. I had someone ask me who lives here and how many.
They cruise past and look at my property and I can’t leave my car out of the garage because someone is breaking into cars all the time.
Everywhere you look, there’s something else being built on State Road 200: A car wash, storage space, apartments, gas stations. All to fill investors’ pockets or builders’ pockets.
I will not move just because I was here first and my home is mine and I refuse to be pushed out. I hate what the entire county has become. People move from large cities because of the congestion and then come here and complain about how they miss what they left and now they are getting what they want too much.
Di Anna Bennis
Dunnellon