Cape Coral City Council, sitting as the South Cape Community Redevelopment Agency governing board, voted to revisit cargo container storage units at a council workshop in the near future.<\/p>\n
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn, acting as the CRA executive director, said the CRA hired a code officer to do an enhanced level of code enforcement, which initially began with several rounds of letters to businesses to let them know. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the items that have come up to the executive office is outdoor storage containers,\u201d Ilczyszyn said. \u201cOutdoor storage containers are not allowed in the city under the city code.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there is one case where a business owner has had outdoor storage pods since 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a sticking point. We are starting to see multiple businesses grumble about it because they are being told they can no longer have it,\u201d he said. \u201cIn some cases, they have been there for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pods, in some cases ,are being used for storing merchandise of long-standing businesses and are located on the side of their business or in the back of the alley.<\/p>\n
There are opportunities for businesses to apply for two 30-day permits. If a business is doing a remodel, renovation, or have had a flood, they can permit one to temporarily store items for two 30-day periods in a 12-month period.<\/p>\n
The regulation, city-wide, is to make sure long-term storage pods were not placed on property. Ilczyszyn said there was a time in the late \u201990s, early 2000s, where companies were going to Tampa and Miami to buy older shipping containers and use them for storage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started seeing a bunch pop up sporadically throughout the city. The intent is not to have them all over the place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner said the city-wide land development code should be discussed at a City Council workshop, rather than at a CRA meeting. He said there is no grandfather provision, or waiver position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just haven\u2019t taken action for whatever reason,\u201d Boksner said.<\/p>\n
All board members agreed with Councilmember Bill Steinke\u2019s recommendation to take the matter up in a workshop for discussion of enforcement or change in the actual ordinance. <\/p>\n