Loading...
03-06-90 v AGENDA CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH March 6, 1990 Call to Order Pledge to Flag Roll Call 1. Approval of Minutes of December 5, 1989 2. Recognition of Visitors and Guests 3. New Business Case #0011 - Claude E. Chambers - 574 Ocean Blvd, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233, North 1/2 of Lot 4, Lot 5 , Block 18 Atlantic Beach Subdivision, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 24-17 Case #0012 - Augusta Sparrow (et al Tommie C. Curry) - Ardella Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 Part of Lot 3 as Recorded in 0/R Book 1062-228, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 12-1 Case #0013 - Francisco P. Rebelo - 1651 Mayport Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233, Part of Lot 3 as Recorded in 0/R Book 4549-979, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 12-1 4. Board Members Comments 5. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD MEETING HELD AT CITY HALL ON MARCH 6, 1990 AT 7:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Present: George Bull, Jr. , Chairman Heywood Dowling, Jr. Mattie Freeman Edward G. Martin Herbert Moller Mary Lyle Perry Allen Salfer And: Suzanne Bass, Prosecuting Attorney Alan Jensen, Legal Council to Board Karen S. Moore, Secretary 1. Approval of Minutes of December 5, 1989 Mr. Martin moved for approval of the minutes of December 5, 1989 as written. the motion was seconded by Mr. Salfer and carried unanimously. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2. Recognition of Visitors and Guests Mr. Bull welcomed to the Board Mary Lyle Perry who replaced Jerome Strayve. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3. New Business Case #0011 - Claude E. Chambers - 574 Ocean Blvd, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233, North 1/2 of Lot 4, Lot 5, Block 18 Atlantic Beach Subdivision, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 24-17 began with notification that a court reporter was taking a record of the hearing by stenographic notes. The City was represented by Suzanne Bass, Prosecuting Attorney and the Respondent represented himself in person. Mr. Don Ford, Code Enforcement Officer was a witness for the City along with Rene' Angers who was the former Code Enforcement Officer. All witnesses in the case were sworn in. Neither side wished to invoke the rule of exclusion of witnesses. Ms. Bass opened the hearing by stating that the property in question was owned by Mr. Claude Chambers. Mr. Chambers was then called to the witness table. Ms. Bass stated to the Board that the property was zoned single family, however it was being used as a duplex. Ms. Bass called on Mr. John Bishop to give his statement. Mr. Bishop told the Board he lived next door to Mr. Chambers' property since 1952, which, at that time, was owned by George and Mary Sharon as a single family dwelling. When it was sold, the new owners turned it into a duplex. Mr. Bishop stated the neighborhood had retained the single family zoning and Mr. Chambers' property is inappropriate to the neighborhood. He continued by saying the parking was the most obvious problem and to his the it had been corrected. He would prefer the property be used as a single family dwelling again. Ms. Bass asked Mr. Chambers if he had any questions he would like to address towards Mr. Bishop. Mr. Chambers stated he did not. Code Enforcement Board Meeting March 6, 1990 Page 2 Ms. Bass called on Rene' Angers. Mrs . Angers stated she was Code Enforcement Officer at the time and she received the initial complaint from Mr. Bishop. She stated she wrote Mr. Chambers a letter on October 5, 1989 informing him he was in violation of the zoning ordinance and he needed to take steps to rectify the matter. Mrs. Angers said Mr. Chambers came in after receiving the letter. She said he felt he would come under the definition of family since there were no more than two unrelated people living there. Mrs. Angers informed him that since they were not living and cooking together, they would not fall under the definition of family. Ms. Bass asked Mr. Chambers if he had any questions for Ms. Angers and stated he did not. Ms. Bass called on Don Ford. Mr. Ford stated he was the Code Enforcement Officer at the present time and he had inspected the property on January 25, 1990. He reported to the Board that Mr. Chambers took him through both stories of the house and it was apparent there were two separate complete kitchens and two complete bathrooms, one for each unit. He stated there was a door on the ground floor where you could enter from one unit to another. He said it was obvious to him it was being used as a duplex. He further stated there were three entrances into the building, with the front entrance being used by the upstairs tenant, the side entrance was being used by the downstairs tenant; Mr. Ford said he had written a letter to Mr. Chambers informing him of his results of the inspection. The letter stated it was a two story building; single electrical and water service and two tenants living in two separate areas of the building and two separate kitchens and bathrooms. Mr. Ford stated to Mr. Chambers the property had been reviewed by the Code Enforcement legal council and was found to be in non-compliance and would be turned over to the Code Enforcement Board if not brought into compliance. Mr. Ford said he had received a letter from Mr. Chambers stating that he had talked to the tenants and had intended to have one of the tenants move out. He confirmed that the downstairs tenants, Jay Smith, had moved out. Mr. Chambers had no questions for Mr. Ford. At this time Ms. Bass directed her questions to Mr. Chambers. Mr. Chambers stated he lives at 1151 Seminole Road. He said his property at 574 Ocean Boulevard does have two complete kitchens. He stated the tenants rent and have access to the entire house. He further stated the house was being occupied by one tenant at the present time. Duval County had rated the dwelling a duplex and raised his taxes. He would like the house revert back to its original rating of a single family dwelling. Mr. Chambers asked the board to explained the definition of a family as it stated in the city code. Mr. Bull stated as long as the tenants were living and cooking together as a unit that that was deemed a family. Closing Statements Ms. Bass stated to the Board that this case was a difficult case in so far as Mr. Chambers has one tenant in the dwelling now, however the dwelling was still equipped with two separate kitchens and bathrooms. She asked the Board to decided if Mr. Chambers should convert the dwelling back to single Code Enforcement Board Meeting March 6, 1990 Page 3 family or keep it as it is. Mr. Bull stated he did not think the Board could tell someone how to design their structure only the way they use it. Mrs. Freeman asked Mr. Bishop if there was anything else besides the parking that he was concerned with. Mr. Bishop stated there was no bad feeling between himself and the tenants but that at some times there were seven or eight vehicles in the yard and that parking was a problem. Mr. Bull moved that Mr. Chambers could continue to use the dwelling as a single family residence with two unrelated people living there as long as they were cooking together and may physically keep the structure the way it was at the present time. The motion was seconded by Mr. Salfer and carried on a 5 - 2 vote with Mr. Dowling and Mr. Martin voting nay. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Case #0012 - Augusta Sparrow (et al Tommie C. Curry) - Ardella Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 Part of Lot 3 as Recorded in 0/R Book 1062- 228, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 12-1 began with the notification that a court reporter was taking a record of the hearing by stenographic notes. The City was represented by Suzanne Bass, Prosecuting Attorney. Mr. Don Ford, Code Enforcement Officer was a witness for the City along with Rene' Angers who was the former Code Enforcement Officer. All witness in the case were sworn in. Neither side wished to invoke the rule of exclusion of witnesses. Ms. Bass began by stating that the property in question was an unimproved lot on Ardella Road which was near Mayport Road. She stated that the property was owned by Augusta Sparrow however Tommie Curry has been paying property taxes due to the fact that Mr. Sparrow was deceased and had been for some years. Ms. Curry was not present at the hearing however Ms. Bass stated she had talked to her on the phone. She said the evidence will show that the code had been violated to the extent that the nuisance ordinance prohibits any garbage, rubbish, weeds, etc. , to occur on property in the City of Atlantic Beach. She further stated that the evidence will also show that Ms. Curry is not responsible in any way for this but her neighbor, Francisco Rebelo who owns Atlas Electric, is responsible for the rubbish. Ms. Bass called Don Ford, Code Enforcement Officer, to the witness stand. Mr. Ford stated he had inspected the property in questions on January 6, 1990. He said the property was full of various pieces of debris and industrial equipment, sheet metal, old scaffolding and tires. Mr. Ford presented pictures he had taken in January 1990 of the property. He presented the pictures to the Board for their viewing. Mr. Francisco Rebelo was called to the witness table and he stated he was the owner of Atlas Electric located at 1651 Mayport Road which intersects with Ardella Road. Ms. Bass asked Mr. Rebelo if he was familiar with the property in question. He stated he was, and that the property was directed behind his property. Ms. Bass asked Mr. Rebelo to look at pictures of the property and verify if any of the debris belong to him. He stated the debris was his and he did place the debris on Mrs. Currie's property. Mr. Rebelo Code Enforcement Meeting March 6, 1990 Page 4 stated he had made a mistake in the boundaries of his property and the Currie property. He said he had received a call from Mrs. Currie claiming he was putting debris on her property. He decided to measure the boundaries of his property and it was at this time that he discovered the mistake. He stated that 90% of Mrs. Curries property had been cleaned and would have the property cleaned in one week to the satisfaction of the Code Enforcement Officer. He said not one piece of his equipment would be on the property after one week. Mr. Rebelo stated people had been dumping rubbish on the property and, thinking the property was his, he had been piling the rubbish up and the City had been picking it up and taking it away. Ms. Bass stated she had no other evidence to bring before the Board on this case, she felt they had proven that the pictures establish that a nuisance had been created. Board Members Comments Mr. Dowling asked if the fine would be levied against Tommie Currie or Francisco Rebelo. Ms. Bass stated that was a question she had labored with and as the testimony the Board had heard clearly established that Mr. Rebelo was the responsible party, she submitted that the board would not be out of order to levy a fine against Mr. Rebelo. Mr. Bull asked Mr. Rebelo if, in the course of removing his rubbish from Mrs. Currie's property, he would pile up any rubbish or debris and place it in a place where the city could pick it up. Mr. Rebelo stated he would and would be willing to pay any dumping fees. Ms. Bass moved to make the pictures of the property part of the record. Mr. Dowling questioned the amount of the fine. Ms. Bass stated the fine could be $250 a day with a maximum of $5,000. Mr. Bull stated it was the of the Board to render a fine if the party was guilty however the situation was being taken care of and will be taken care of. Mr. Rebelo had stated he would not only remove his equipment but also pile the debris up for removal by the city or he would remove it within a week. Mr. Dowling moved that beginning April 1, 1990 the board impose a fine of $100 a day on Mr. Rebelo if the property was not cleaned. The motion was seconded by Mr. Martin and passed on a six to one vote with Mr. Bull voting nay. * * * * * * * * * * * * Case #0013 - Francisco P. Rebelo - 1651 Mayport Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida, 32233, Part of Lot 3 as Recorded in 0/R Book 4549-979, in violation of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic Beach, Section 12-1 began with the notification that a court reporter was taking a record of the hearing by stenographic notes. The City was represented by Suzanne Bass, Prosecuting Attorney and Don Ford, Code Enforcement Officer. All witness to this case had been sworn in by Mr. Bull. Neither side wished to invoke the rule of exclusion of witnesses. Code Enforcement Board March 6, 1990 Page 5 Ms. Bass stated this was basically a continuation of the previous case had insofar as the property in question was 1651 Mayport Road which intersects with Ardella Road. The property was owned by Francisco Rebelo and the board will hear testimony that Mr. Rebelo had a continuation of the same nuisance on the property. She called on Mrs. Ruth Gregg, 905 Sailfish Drive, Atlantic Beach. Ms. Bass asked Mrs. Gregg if she was familiar with the property at 1651 Mayport Road. She said she was. Mrs. Gregg stated she had made a complaint about the property in June of 1989 and also six months before that. She said her complaint was the property needed to be cleaned up. She said she doesn't think it was fair for the citizens of Atlantic Beach to ride up Mayport Road and see the debris. Mr. Rebelo asked Mrs. Gregg if a fence would satisfy her. Mrs. Gregg said a fence would hide the problem but the lots still be cleaned up. Ms. Bass called Mrs. Angers, formerly the Code Enforcement Officer, to the witness table. Mrs. Angers said she had originally received the complaint and caused an investigation to occur at the property at 1651 Mayport Road. She stated she observed what appeared to be a nuisance on the property, talked to Mr. Rebelo on the phone, and then wrote to him on October 17, 1989 by certified mail. She stated she had informed Mr. Rebelo that he had fifteen (15) days to remedy the nuisance and to her knowledge the nuisance had not been remedied. Ms. Bass had no other questions for Mrs. Angers. Ms. Bass called Mr. Don Ford, presently the Code Enforcement Officer, to the witness table. Mr. Ford stated he had received this complaint from Mrs. Angers when he took over as Code Enforcement Officer. He said he had taken pictures of 1651 Mayport Road and the intersection of Ardella Road on January 25, 1990. He stated the use of the photographs would aid in his testimony to the Board. Ms. Bass passed the pictures to the board members for their viewing. Mr. Ford stated the pictures were very similar to the photographs from case #0012 due to the fact that it was hard to determine the property line. He said the pictures were taken from Ardella Road. He told the Board he had spoken directly to Mr. Rebelo about the nuisance on January 25, 1990, he reminded him of the previous dates he had been notified by the City, and unless the problem was solved he would have to appear before the Code Enforcement Board. He stated he had also informed Mr. Rebelo in writing on January 22, 1990 about the problem in addition to the letter Mrs. Angers had sent to him. Mr. Ford said he had been by 1651 Mayport Road this date and the property had not been cleaned up. The business Mr. Rebelo ran at 1651 Mayport Road was Atlas Electric Motors and the nature of the business was to rewind electric motors, repairs motors, and works on pumps. Mr. Rebelo had no questions for Mr. Ford. Mr. Dowling asked Mr. Rebelo what percentage of the items stored on the property were actually usable. He replied 85% not counting the equipment he had already junked. He said the equipment had been put aside for a number of years in case there was demand for it. He knows the property looks bad but his intentions are to build a building to house the equipment. Mr. Bull asked the members of the board if they had any statements or Code Enforcement Board March 6, 1990 Page 6 questions they wished to asked. Mrs. Freeman stated that some of the equipment on the property had nothing to do with motors or electrical equipment. Mr. Dowling again asked Mr. Rebelo what percentage of the equipment was related to his business. Mr. Rebelo replied 85%. Mr. Dowling asked him if the Board did not require him to put up a fence, how else would he resolve the problem. Mr. Rebelo said that regardless of him putting up a fence or not that 15% of the equipment would be removed. He would prefer that the board allow him to put up a fence and keep 85% of the equipment. Mr. Dowling asked Mr. Ford if the installation of a fence would solve the problem. Mr. Ford stated Mr. Rebelo had some items that would be visible over a six foot fence. The question was brought up by Mr. Martin about whether a six foot fence could be constructed. Mr. Bull replied no and asked Mr. Rebelo what the size of his property was. Mr. Rebelo replied four lots. Mr. Bull stated there were two problems in this case, one being that some of the property Mr. Rebelo was storing had nothing to do with his business and than there is alot of property that is related but needs to be enhanced. He further stated Mr. Rebelo had owned and conducted his business for nine years. He said he did not feel it was the intent of the board to put anyone out of business but rather work with the business owners to try and correct the problems. Ms. Perry suggested the possibility of Mr. Rebelo scraping steel, metal or cooper to offset the cost of cleaning the property. Mr. Rebelo stated some of the debris was very heavy and hard to move. Mr. Bull asked Mr. Rebelo what kind of a time table would he need to fence the yard. Mr. Rebelo stated he could have a fence put up and painted in one month. Mr. Bull than stated whether or not the city wanted to get in the position of letting everybody put up fences. Mr. Moller stated that according to Mr. Rebelo's letter of June 20, 1989 his ultimate intention is to construct a building. Mr. Dowling asked Mr. Rebelo how much time he would need to create a situation that would satisfy the Code Enforcement Officer and he reply 90 days. Mr. Bull questioned if the board could continue this case to the next regular scheduled meeting which was in three months. In the meantime, he asked all the Board members to visit the property, and return in ninety days and make a decision on what kind of an effort he had make to get the property cleaned up. In the event he was not making an effort, the Board will put a very strict timetable on him and if he does not comply he would be fined. At this time, Ms. Bass asked the Board if one more witness could be called to testify. The board having no objection, Ms. Bass called Mrs. Adelaide Tucker. Mrs. Tucker stated her only concern about putting up a fence would be the traffic problems coming off of Ardella Road onto Mayport Road. Mr. Ford stated it would be very difficult for him to determine what Code Enforcement Board March 6, 1990 Page 7 pieces of equipment Mr. Rebelo can or can not use in his business, however if Mr. Rebelo would make him a list of the items to be removed, it would help him to determine if Mr. Rebelo was compling with the order of the Board. Ms. Bass stated she had no problem with the board giving Mr. Rebelo a ninety day extension to remedy the problem. Mr. Martin moved that the Board table this case until the next quarterly meeting and that Mr. Rebelo be advised that in that ninety days, after the length of time this problems had gone on, that substantial and visible improvements had to be made and if there was not substantial improvements in ninety days the board will be forced to take drastic action. The motion was seconded by Mr. Dowling and the motion carried unanimously. * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4. Board Members Comments - None * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5. Adjournment - There being no other business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. taa George Bull, Jr. .w ATTEST: Karen S. oore, Secretary