Villages Developer Says Water Fight Costing $50,000 Daily

ORLANDO-A state judge this month will decide if Lady Lake, FL developer Gary Morse can add 43,000 homes and four million sf of retail at the Villages, a 25-year-old subdivision and one of the fastest growing communities in the nation.

The issue is over water. Morse says he needs to extract a total 3.9 million gallons a day in Lake, Marion and Sumter counties where he plans to add golf courses and new businesses over the next six years.

The developer says the project will attract 10,000 new residents and run up the community’s total permanent population to 90,000 in 2020 from 25,000 today.