May 19 commission meeting<\/a>,\u00a0the first reading for two new ordinances was introduced and approved for targeting unsafe structures. The measure will expand the city\u2019s enforcement options.<\/p>\n\u201cAfter I\u2019ve certified a lien on a property and it\u2019s accumulated daily fines after 90 days, we could serve them the unfit and unsafe structure letter. We can also choose to foreclose on the property. We could also choose to file a civil action lawsuit against the property owner to recover the liens and fines,\u201d Dixon said.<\/p>\n
To see the issue firsthand, Sunset Beach homeowner Alex Landeta took Spectrum Bay News 9 through his Sunset Beach neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a dilapidated house that was kind of like the one next to it, but this one got fixed,\u201d Landeta said, describing one home. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely an underlying problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to public safety concerns, Dixon explained that dilapidated homes can cause concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already had a piece of debris strike one of the property owners while he was doing landscaping and injure him,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n
Dixon noted that private property owners have constitutional rights, limiting how quickly the city can intervene.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, as property owners, we have to be mindful of the Fourth Amendment rights to unlawful searches and seizures,\u201d Dixon said. \u201cBut with our ordinances and this new ordinance, it allows us to notify the property owner, given a specified allotted time and if they don\u2019t come into compliance or there\u2019s no communication, we have no choice but to take care of the issue for the life and safety and protection of the public in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walking along 79th Terrace, Landeta pointed out several homes that have seen recent progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staircases were falling down. They got new staircases. You can see the doors are still missing, but, I mean, he\u2019s working out here every day in the heat, clearing everything out, getting everything fixed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Landeta said that he\u2019s seen change in the month of May.<\/p>\n
This new ordinance, with recent construction activity, is giving him reassurance.<\/p>\n
Landeta added, \u201cI would say ones (homes) that haven\u2019t been touched since the storm in the last two months, at least I can count five just within a few blocks from here, that work has finally started. So yeah, if this interview was in March, I\u2019d be a little more angry. But since I\u2019ve seen progress, I mean, things are eventually… we\u2019ll get there. But this will definitely expedite the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hopes tougher enforcement could help stalled recovery turn into lasting progress.<\/p>\n
A second hearing on the proposed ordinance is scheduled for July 7.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Dixon said the team will continue focusing on properties that pose public safety risks while preparing for the new enforcement process if approved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. \u2014 The city of Treasure Island is considering stronger code enforcement measures to address unsafe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[16022,27812,2031,274,558,1644,2200,115438,115,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,12166,135,278,2032,835],"class_list":["post-293139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-housing","tag-app-latest-housing-stories","tag-app-local-business","tag-app-top-stories","tag-business","tag-housing","tag-instagram-bn9","tag-justina-rhines","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-storm-season","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}