Code Enforcement City of Lake Worth

Comment Up

There were 2 comments submitted to this blog this morning chiding the previous commission prior to 2012 for lousy code enforcement--they were not published. Code enforcement is not about politics although some owners might get special breaks. It's all about getting off your derriere and doing the job according to our Ordinances--as well as being fair to property owners in this city. The owners' testimony should be awarded as much consideration as the city's. There are always two sides to the story.

The blog commenter said that he has seen many improvements with this new commission.  WHAT ARE THEY? Well, here are a few:

I just got back from the special magistrate's meeting and what I observed, for many of the cases, was large fines and a city citing property owners or even trying to foreclose on many of them, i.e., churches, businesses, condo associations, etc. that might possibly have a better ability to pay, for infractions that could be solved fairly. In these cases, the owners were treated like total deadbeats, their testimony discounted.

Calvary Methodist Church, 210 N. Lakeside was given a notice on a lien from 2001 that they knew nothing about. The church has a lot of volunteers, staff changes and they were surprised. It was over an air conditioner installation that was not permitted. The fine was $9,500 that has been reduced to $950 and they have 30 days to comply.

The New Church of the Nazarene was given a foreclosure notice. It is located at 806 N. Dixie. They had a fine of $549,792 and the property is now in compliance. The fine was reduced to $54,945 and they are asking to pay it off in monthly payments over 10 years.  The city wants 5 years.  These are poor folks attending this church. Perhaps they should file bankruptcy and reorganize.

A condo association at 1829 North  A Street was cited for code violations fourteen years after the fact on expired permits before the building was even under an association.  City staff will meet with the condo board and its attorney as well as the building official within the next 60 days.

Another case was a prominent businessman whose business is located on Dixie Highway and one that has been here for 30 years. The Use and Occupancy license wordage was confusing and the owner did not know he had to pay it as he thought it pertained to rental property only. He owns his own building and occupies it. The ordinance apparently changed in 2011 and the city is not compelled to give any notice to a business owner other than the public notice at a city commission meeting. The city is asking for administrative costs and fines. The Judge ordered that the city attorney research whether or not he needs to pay the back fines.

The property that an anonymous poster cited on the previous blog regarding 1312 Lucerne was on the list for foreclosure but never was called during the several hours I attended with about only one-half of the listed properties discussed.