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10-21-1999 ~ ..., CITYOFEDGEWATER CITIZENS CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 21..1999 COMMUNITY CENTER 5:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Anthony Fowler called to order the regular meeting of the Citizens Code Enforcement Board at 5:35 p.m., Thursday, October 21, 1999. ROLL CALL: Members present were Chairman Anthony Fowler, Linda Johnson, Maureen Bomer, George Ann Keller, Frank Roberts, and Ben DelNigro. Sonja Wiles was recorded absent. Also present were Beverly Kinney-Johnson, Code Enforcement Officer; Jon Williams, Code Enforcement Officer; Dennis 1. Fischer, Building Official; Nikki Clayton, City Attorney; and Tonya L. Elliott, Minutes Transcriber. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mrs. Bomer moved to accept the minutes of August 19, 1999. Seconded by Mrs. Keller. Motion CARRIED 6-0. CASES IN COMPLIANCE: Code Enforcement Officer Beverly Kinney-Johnson reported the following cases 10 compliance: 99-CE-0049, CM&G Inc. - Deferred Paving Agreement 99-CE-0048, Ray and Chris Fisher - Deferred Paving Agreement and Section 700.01(d)(2) of the Code of Ordinances UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Code Enforcement Officer Beverly Kinney-Johnson presented a memorandum from Mark Hall the attorney representing Jimmy Owens on the cases continued from the August 19, 1999 meeting. Mr. Hall wrote that his client was ill and unable to attend the October 21, 1999 meeting and asked for a continuance of the cases. Chairman Fowler asked what the pleasure of the Board was. Mr. Roberts moved to extend case numbers 91-CE-2375, 92-CE-0734, 91-CE-2374, 92-CE-0202, 96-CE- o 139(B), 96-CE-0771 (B), 96-CE-OOlO(B), 96-CE-0624 and 94-CE-0339 until the next meeting. Seconded by Ms. Johnson. Motion CARRIED 6-0. ~ ......, 2 SWEARING IN OF WITNESSES: Chairman Fowler requested that Beverly Kinney-Johnson, Code Enforcement Officer, and anyone else with statements or comments pertaining to any of the cases stand and be sworn in. Mrs. Johnson; Marie Buckheit, 512 Sea Gull Court; James C. Carder, 2321 S. Ridgewood Avenue; Howard Jenrette 510 Sea Gull Court; and James Gilligan, 514 Sea Gull Court, were sworn in at this time. Charles Buckheit, 512 Sea Gull Court, was sworn in during testimony in case number 99-CE-0082. NEW BUSINESS: Case # 99-CE-0082 - Belmont Homes.. Uncontained trash on property.. Section 717.03 of the Zoning Code located at 514 Sea Gull Court. (Typographical error on agenda, case descriptions and section in violation transposed.) Code Enforcement Officer Beverly Kinney-Johnson reported that on August 9, 1999 the Department received a complaint regarding trash at 514 Sea Gull Court. Upon inspection she observed uncontained trash on the property and in the right-of-way. Mrs. Johnson contacted Mrs. Carder of Belmont Homes who stated she would take care of the problem. Code Enforcement Officer Jon Williams reinspected the property on August 18, 1999 and reported no corrective action was taken. A Notice of Violation was issued to Belmont Homes on August 27, 1999, setting September 7, 1999 as the date for compliance. Mr. Williams inspected the property on that date and observed no corrective action had been taken. A Notice of Violation Hearing was issued to Belmont Homes on September 13, 1999. An employee of Belmont Homes accepted the certified mail on September 17, 1999. On September 30, 1999, Mrs. McBride working for Mr. Hooper, City Manager called Mrs. Johnson and instructed her to call the Carder's of Belmont Homes and relay the seriousness of the problem at 514 Sea Gull Court. Mrs. Johnson contacted Mrs. Carder that same day and explained the seriousness of the problem. On October 11, 1999 an inspection was made at which time the uncontained trash had been removed and the case was signed in compliance. Mrs. Johnson explained that during the course of this case, the co-owner, Timothy Gilligan passed away. She said clean up of the property began after that time, however, because 514 Sea Gull Court has been the subject of code enforcement action in the past, it is important that the Board hear the case. In conclusion, Mrs. Johnson said that because uncontained trash existed on the property, Section 717.03 of the Edgewater Zoning Code has been violated. She recommended the violator be found to have been in violation of Section 717.03 and ordered to refrain from future violations or risk enforcement as a repeat violator. Chairman Fowler asked which employee of Belmont Homes had accepted the certified mail. Mrs. Johnson said Cecile McConchie had signed for the certified mail. Chairman Fowler asked about the statement that Mr. Gilligan was co-owner of the property. Mrs. Johnson said the property owner is listed as Belmont Homes in care of Cecile Gilligan, Purchase Under Contract and asked City Attorney Nikki Clayton to explain. Ms. Clayton said she believed the transaction was a Contract for Deed by which Belmont Homes has sold the property to the Gilligan's who resides at the home. She explained that in Florida 2 ~ ""'-' 3 the deed does not transfer until final payment under the contract has been made as opposed to a situation were there is a mortgage and the deed is transferred in the beginning. She said a Contract for Deed means the property appraiser shows Belmont Homes as the owner of the property until the contract is paid in full. Ms. Clayton said in reality Belmont Homes has not created the offenses but the occupants of the home have, yet Belmont Homes is responsible. She said the situation is similar to having tenants who are renting and not observing the Edgewater Code. She said according to Mrs. Johnson's recommendation the case is in compliance however, she would like the violator to be found to have been in violation and if they are in violation again to be treated as a repeat violator. Ms. Clayton suggested the Board set guidelines for the occupant to observe the codes and respect the neighbors. Chairman Fowler asked for comments from the neighbors of514 Sea Gull Court. Marie Buckheit, 512 Sea Gull Court, said the occupants have been working to clean the property up, but as far as she was concerned they are not in full compliance. She said they have put up pieces of fencing nailed to her fence with no permits in order to hide the junk that was moved from the front of the house to the side. Ms. Clayton asked if there was still uncontained trash on the property. Ms. Buckheit said the trash was gone, however there was still the fence issue. James C. Carder, 2321 S. Ridgewood Avenue, said the citations issued to Belmont Homes, Inc. were all given to James Gilligan and he was ordered to clean up his mess. He said he feels he has no control over the property because of the Contract for Deed since it is more the occupant's house then his. Mr. Carder said as long as the payments are kept up it is totally Mr. Gilligan's piece of real estate. Howard Jenrette, 510 Sea Gull Court, said he went to the tax office to find out who actually owns the property and it shows Belmont Homes. He said due to the condition of the property its value was lowered from about $54,000.00 to $36,000.00, which also lowered the taxes at 514 Sea Gull Court, and the value of his property at 510 Sea Gull Court. Ms. Clayton suggested he talk to the property appraiser about those issues. Chairman Fowler said he feels this is the tenant's responsibility since he created the violation not Mr. Carder. He asked at what point does it become the tenant's responsibility and not a property owners. Ms. Clayton said if Mr. Carder had a better legal document it would not only contain requirements for payment of rent or contractual mortgage payment, but it would also contain maintenance requirements for the property putting the tenant in default if the property conditions deteriorate. She said the choice of documents used for this transaction should not become the Code Enforcement Boards problem. She said the issue at hand is how these ongoing violations are affecting the neighbors, and someone has to be told to correct the violation. Chairman Fowler said he agrees the issue is to keep the property in compliance, however he has a problem going after Mr. Carder as a repeat offender since placing a lien on this property could potentially affect all his properties. A lengthy discussion followed on these issues. 3 ~~ ...., 4 Ms. Johnson asked if the notices had been sent to Belmont Homes and the violator. Mrs. Johnson said she had spoken to the violator on several occasions that attempted to correct the violations, but the notices had only been sent to Belmont Homes. However, Mr. Fischer said that Code Enforcement Officer Jon Williams had posted the Notice of Violation Hearing on the property. Chairman Fowler said he has a problem with only the owner being notified of the violation and not the tenant. Ms. Clayton said that under a contract for deed the burdens of ownership become the responsibility of the owner. Charles Buckheit, 512 Sea Gull Court, was sworn in at this time. He said he has lived at his residence for the past 12 years and this problem has been going on for about 8 years. He said there have been several different people living at the residence and the problem has continued to get worse. Mrs. Keller asked if the problem has been going on for so many years why it hadn't been brought to the Boards attention before now. Mrs. Johnson said in the past the violator has always come in compliance. Mrs. Keller said the Board has no proof of past violations, which makes it hard to make a determination of repeat violator. Ms. Clayton said that was an excellent point in reference to the nature of staff's past cases, and past violations should be included in future repeat violator cases. Discussion followed on what action the Board should take. Following this discussion, Ms. Johnson moved in reference to case number 99-CE-0082 to dismiss the case as it is in compliance but if they comes before the Board again they will view it as a repeat violator which incurs a higher fine. Seconded by Mr. Roberts. Motion CARRIED 5-1. Chairman Fowler dissenting. Case # 99-CE-0083 - Belmont Homes..Untagged vehicles on property..8ection 712 of the Zoning Code located at 514 Sea Gull Court. Code Enforcement Officer Beverly Kinney-Johnson reported that on August 9, 1999, the Department received a complaint regarding untagged vehicles. Her first visit to the property was on August 9, 1999 at which time she observed untagged vehicles. Mrs. Johnson contacted Mrs. Carder at Belmont Homes who said she would take care of the problem. Code Enforcement Officer Jon Williams reinspected the property on August 18, 1999 and found that no corrective action had been taken. A Notice of Violation was issued to Belmont Homes, Inc. on August 27, 1999 setting September 7, 1999 as the date for compliance. Mr. Williams inspected the property on September 7, 1999 and observed the property was not in compliance. A Notice of Violation Hearing was issued to Belmont Homes on September 13, 1999. An Employee of Belmont Homes accepted the certified mail on September 17, 1999. On September 30, 1999, Mrs. McBride working for Mr. Hooper, City Manager called Mrs. Johnson and instructed her to contact the Carder's of Belmont Homes and relay the seriousness of the problem at 514 Sea Gull Court. Mrs. Johnson contacted Mrs. Carder that same day and explained the seriousness of this code enforcement case. On October 11, 1999 an inspection was made and the case was signed in compliance because the untagged vehicles had been removed. During the course of this case, the co-owner, Timothy Gilligan, passed away. The clean up began after his death. However, because 514 Sea Gull Court has been the subject of code enforcement 4 ~.' ..." 5 action in the past, Mrs. Johnson feels it is important for the Board to hear the case. She recommended that the violator be found to have been in violation of Section 712 and ordered to refrain from future violations or risk enforcement action as a repeat violator. Chairman Fowler asked Mr. Carder if he had any comments. Mr. Carder stated that he thought the violation had been taken care of some time ago when it was brought to his attention. He said he was aware of the number of notices he had received but assumed the vehicles had been removed. Chairman Fowler asked if anyone else had questions in reference to this case. Mrs. Borner questioned the number of untagged vehicles on the property. Mrs. Johnson said there have been several vehicles at different times. Chairman Fowler asked Mr. Carder if he owned any of the untagged vehicles himself, or if Mr. Gilligan worked for him. Mr. Carder said that none of the vehicles were his and that Mr. Gilligan had been a subcontractor for him. Chairman Fowler asked Mr. Carder when the house was built. Mr. Carder stated around 1982. He then asked Mr. Carder when Mr. Gilligan had purchased the house. Mr. Carder said in 1985 or 1986. Chairman Fowler asked how many people had resided at the residence. Mr. Carder said to his knowledge there were only 4 or 5 people living at the house at one time. However, he said he does not make a point of going around everyday inspecting all the properties he owns. Chairman Fowler asked if he had any problems with other properties he has had contract for deeds on. Mr. Carder said no. After a short discussion, Ms. Johnson moved to dismiss the case for the same reasons as case number 99-CE-0083, and they will be viewed as repeat violators if they come before the Board again. Seconded by Mr. Roberts. Motion CARRIED 5-1. Chairman Fowler Dissenting. DISCUSSION ITEMS: There was a lengthy discussion on code enforcement being more strict in handling repeat violators, notification of owner/tenant situations, and providing more adequate information to the Board pertaining to repeat violator cases. Ms. Clayton said in the future, staff would make sure it sends certified notices to the property owner and the violator, and that past violations will be provided on repeat violators. She said there are currently behind the scene efforts to improve code enforcement. ADJOURN: There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting adjourned at 7: 10 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Tonya L. Elliott, Minutes Transcriber H:\tonya\ cd0ct2 99 5