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Highlands Today

Avon Park Continues To Tighten Code Enforcement

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By BILL RETTEW JR.

Highlands Today

Published: November 11, 2008

AVON PARK - Donald Simmons, code enforcement director, is trying to make the city look even better, and his job is getting easier every day.

The 62-year-old City of Charm native is proud of his birthplace. He recognized and waved to nearly every motorist and pedestrian he passed during a 45-minute inspection tour of the city Monday.

"Nobody wants to be told what to do," said Simmons, "And that's understandable. It's all about cleaning up the town. Beautification of this city - that's what it's all about."

City council is grappling with new ordinances that would require both homeowners and landlords to respond to civil citations, and fix the reason for those notices sooner.

"It's not hard to see how city council has come a long way of making this city more presentable for people who want to move in and people who are already here," said Simmons.

Four code enforcement employees served about 3,700 citations last year. For non-repeat offenders, the first citation basically serves as a warning, with a time period for compliance set, and no fine.

If compliance is not forthcoming following another inspection, a court date in magistrate court might be forthcoming.

In the past, property owners sometimes responded by merely saying that work to correct deficiencies was under way.

As a response to "work" that sometimes lasted several years, city council recognized that a concrete time period for compliance was needed.

"We're trying to put a little bit of new teeth on the books," said Simmons. "It will help (an individual's) property values and surrounding property values."

Sarah Adelt, city manger, said that a code enforcement board was discontinued 10 years ago, which made way for use of civil courts through the county.

And since March, Parke Sutherland, a special magistrate for the city, has sped up the process.

"We're putting a priority on code enforcement, but the civil courts did not put a priority on code enforcement," said Joe Wright, city councilman. "It was difficult to get anything scheduled and took forever to get resolved."

And residents have already benefited from the streamlined process.

"We finally knocked down a couple of buildings that were eyesores and health hazards that needed to be knock down five years ago," said Wright.

Councilman George Hall agreed that the city needs to set firm time limits, while seeking compliance, but still leave room to work with property owners.

"We don't expect somebody to tear a building down in two weeks," said Hall. "We don't want to be unreasonable...but we want a little more timeliness."

Simmons said a priority is to educate residents on code enforcement rules and regulations.

Neighbors often complain that if they comply, why does a neighbor seem to sometimes fail to adhere to the same set of rules?

"People feel like we go around with a sledgehammer and a big stick," said Simmons. "We can cite people, but we can't force people to do what they're supposed to do."

Patricia Austin complained to the code enforcement office four times, and to Adelt, concerning a neighbor on East State Street with more than a dozen cars on the property.

Simmons is bound to enforce the existing laws.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do," said Simmons. "It's perfectly legal. They're running a business in a residential neighborhood, but they have a license to work on automobiles.

"But, if they ever shut down, they might not get another license to operate a garage," said Simmons.

The code inspector loves his job and although he's near retirement age, he hasn't seriously considered quitting, but admitted it's a mostly thankless task.

"It's pretty rare that we get any 'atta boys,'" said Simmons with a grin.

Bill Rettew Jr. may be reached at 386-5857 or wrettew@highlandstoday.com.

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