During the last 30 to 40 years, exponential population growth and concomitant community development has occurred throughout the Sunshine State. Most newcomers to Florida during that period of time became accustomed to purchasing homes in amenity-rich communities that offered pools and clubhouses, and, in many instances, gates and guardhouses with a promise of security that required privatization of the streets and roadways within them. During that same period, local governments were all too eager to pass along maintenance responsibilities for lakes, swales and open green spaces and other areas within these communities over to the homeowners’ associations that governed them, instead of those governmental authorities picking up the tab in the traditional manner.    Read the article……………………