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Wall cutting off popular golf cart path upsets Villages residents

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — A newly constructed wall at The Villages of Country Club Hills in The Villages is now blocking some residents from going to a doctor's office and shopping venues by golf cart.

Residents said the wall went up on Saturday, blocking off a popular golf cart path that has been there for two decades, essentially cutting them off from more than a dozen businesses that are outside The Villages boundary.

"Well, we're really upset," said resident Antonio Ortiz. "A lot of people are mad. I don't want to get mad. I've got to control my temper."

"Walmart, Aldi, Lowe's, eye doctor, dentist, all up in there," said resident Raymond Zajic.

There is also an assisted living center under construction, which is why some residents insist the wall went up.

"That's why the wall is there. It's all about the money," said resident Robert Schwarz.

Channel 9 went to the development's corporate office to ask for Villages president Mark Morse, but he was unavailable for comment. When WFTV's Berndt Petersen went back to the wall, he found the wall had been vandalized.

Others have created their own path through the finely manicured grass.

The president of the community's residential owners association said she will reach out to the developer, but she's already contacted an attorney, just in case.