Do you have your swale in compliance with Key Biscayne’s code?
Village Council members on March 10 unanimously approved (6-0) an ordinance to commence swale code enforcement compliance efforts.
The enforcement will begin immediately with those homeowners not following Village rules regarding vertical plastic reflector lights and the use of non-landscape materials within the swale area.
Safety and aesthetics are part of the broad discussion that took place two weeks ago. Now, the challenge is to bring back definitions of what actually are acceptable and non-acceptable landscape materials, such as boulders or the posts with rope connected across.
While Building, Zoning & Planning Director Jeremy Calleros Gauger was OK with those posts, Mayor Joe Rasco said he was “100 percent against it. It tells me, ‘Don’t park here!’ I’d really have a problem with that’.”
The mandated 3-foot clear zone, next to the road asphalt, needs to be unobstructed, either with sod or an approved gravel material, which will be discussed later.
The boulders could be denied through a code change when definitions of landscaping material are finalized. There also might be a temporary halting of roadside parking, but that will come from the police department.
In the meantime, the Village’s code enforcement department will start with an education campaign, “before we step up with warnings,” Calleros Gauger said. There will be a grace period, then compliance actions would take place.
Otherwise, a formal warning, then fines, if needed, would follow.
Council member Ed London was not in attendance for the vote.