171 Bryn Mawr
There has been a lot of opinions about our Code Enforcement department. Anytime a resident gets cited by a code officer, it's a guarantee that it won't be their happiest day. The owner of this house was cited for what the Post called a "minor Infraction." A front yard with no grass and just sand is not minor in my book. She was simply given a notice to comply.
And if you notice, it is always someone else's fault. This time blame it on God for not giving us enough rain that caused her grass to die and her ignoring our Ordinance. The owner spoke in front of the commission at their workshop last week and was totally incensed that she, in all the 27.5 years of living here, was given a courtesy notice to landscape the front of her house. She further mentioned being sleepless in Lake Worth ever since she received this notice and that she "takes incredible pride in my home." She said that Code should have better priorities. The mayor even sympathized with her.
Vice Mayor, Scott Maxwell thinks code enforcement should be concentrating on "curb appeal" first. If you can't see the problem from the street, like the roof caving in, then it's not that important? This property is all about curb appeal. I don't consider a barren front yard as a "minor" infraction. Any time an owner does not comply with city ordinances, it is or can be an eyesore to the entire street and every neighbor living nearby. One property can bring down overall property values.
Code should be able to do its job without all the strings and some residents insisting that they should be some low priority. Code officers should just follow the ordinances and the commission needs to keep politics out of it.
Thanks for posting the pic of her yard Lynn. I was there at the code meeting and also sympathized with her but knew at the time that code wasn't just riding around and looked her yard deciding to pull over and cite her. This was obviously called in to code by a neighbor. Someone who probably takes more pride in their yard than this lady does.
ReplyDeleteEven people with zeroscaped yards must edge the sidewalk and make it look presentable. Even the constitution lady's yard looks better than this.
You may not like the Constitution Lady's yard but has she ever been cited lately or ever for her yard? Some anonymous complainer turned her in over a year ago for garbage cans. Let's not get too snarky here.
ReplyDeleteNo. I just saw a picture of it somewhere, possibly here. It is not something I'd want to live next door to. There are many other "notable" people in town who either are lazy about the "curb appeal" of their property or like your girlfriend Cara, don't believe in maintaining the yard, preferring the wild look in an urban setting.
ReplyDeleteTo each their own, until it starts making my property look bad and affecting my property value.
Just take care of your yard.
Maxwell should keep his mouth SHUT about code issues. A property less than 100 feet from his house sat WITHOUT A ROOF, yes without a roof, for over TEN years.It was also missing some walls and had shreds of the infamous blue tarp still clinging here and there.Again,shut it Maxwell.
ReplyDeleteCode needs to start coming around on weekends and after 5:00 PM.There are cars parked in front yards all over the ROLO neighborhood where I live.We have Al Vega. Maybe that's the problem.
Grass doesn't belong in South Florida. Landscape your lawn, for heaven's sake. Call Smarty Plants, and just pay them a couple hundred to do it. They'll have it looking gorgeous in no time. Lush and green with no fuss plants that are perfect for our subtropical climate! A lot of people, including MANY in College Park, need a little bit of education when it comes to what to plant here. And everyone needs to be aware that local code REQUIRES every home have at least one shade tree in the front yard. Not palm tree. A SHADE TREE. I wish code had cited this lady for violating this section of our code.
ReplyDeleteIts pathetic that the city is quick to sell out their own employees just to please some ranting lady that is in CLEAR VIOLATION. what a worthless bunch of officials we have.
ReplyDeleteour code people get too much hate from the rest of the public. and when stuff like this comes up and the post jumps on the side of the "victim" it makes code look even worse! They are just doing their job and I agree I wouldn't want to live next to this lady, she obviously isn't a do right neighbor.
ReplyDeletewe don't have to put grass down. we can put anything that's living that covers 75% of our front area to not have any bare dirt spots.
ReplyDeleteCode has a thankless job, but I don't think we should be wasting precious code resources on lawn issues when we have slum and blight. Code should focus on worst first and if that was this lady's complaint I agree with her. If her complaint is she shouldn't be cited, I don't agree with her except for the fact that code resources should be focused on worst.
ReplyDeleteYards should be landscaped, should our code require grass, no. We are often under watering and drought restrictions and we should be encouraging folks to plant native and tropical but those both still require upkeep and maitenance.
@9:52...Don't know a thing about Cara's house...have never been there. Xeriscaping is the "in" thing although I admit I hate it for the most part. Most people don't take care of it and it ends up looking like overgrown weeds. It gives the distinct impression that the owner just doesn't want to be bothered with his yard and he puts that in. A nice yard takes a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteAnd grass certainly DOES belong--anywhere.
@11...her yard IS contributing to slum and blight, IMO. I have zero sympathy with people who do not and will not follow the rules and be considerate of their neighbors. Too bad it took a friendly reminder to tell her that.
ReplyDeleteAs a LW tax payer id be pissed if I put in a complaint about her type lawn and code said sorry your not a priority deal with it. for me that is a priority, who are you to say different? Directed towards ANON 11:00am.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many of those blighted properties are running in daily fines by code taking them to our magistrate hearing. What more does everyone want from them? Would you prefer code put on a hard hat & a sledge hammer and knock them down with their bare hands, mow a field or start picking up trash around the neighborhood? NEWS FLASH, we have demo programs, board and secure programs and lot cutting contractors which are doing stuff around here. A property was boarded in my neighborhood last month by the CITY. They did what their job entails so just shut up already with all this negativity.
ReplyDeleteHell my code guy is great, anytime I call him with a complaint he handles it quickly
ReplyDeleteEach code officer has different assigned zones that they have to stay in with different worst first scenarios. For someone that lives in college park it could very well be the grass and for someone who lives in the south end it could be that abandoned house with prostitutes and druggies squatting inside.
ReplyDeleteThey are doing a great job addressing the issues within their areas. We should all start looking up properties on the city website to actually see if code has been to the bad properties before ranting about how bad of a job they are doing...
If there are any people left in this town with the slightest shred of common sense, then one should realize and understand that neither code or pbso or even the president cannot solve all your problems or cater to all your complaints. The real solution is to take the initiative and do something that you can do yourself. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Clean up your mess, communicate with your neighbors, help where you can and stop complaining. Code cannot make you all happy. Everyone that gets cited is automatically a victim. If you know you have violations, take care of it before code comes to your block.
ReplyDeleteLastly, get the facts, learn how the city works. A few nights ago there was a code enforcement work shop, did you go? Did you bother to find out why things are the way are? Common sense people, it's just a bit of common sense.
the only complaint I have is on our whinny two faced shady waste of title politicians we have in sucking up our air in city hall!
ReplyDeleteThe vacant lot @ 110 N F ST looks better than her front yard!
ReplyDeletethe commission is weak and it shows! They threw their own department under the bus just to save face with a complainer? Now how does that show leadership? No wonder no one wants to live in here anymore its stems from the top and the poo trickles down to the residents.
ReplyDeleteI was there and they didn't throw anybody under the bus. They showed concern for the lady's plight and asked code about the worst first policy they had asked be implemented over a year ago.
ReplyDeleteThis yard was called in by a concerned neighbor. If you or I call in a complaint, the code officer MUST investigate the complaint. She was issued a notice of violation, which is the most polite way to say :Lady, take care of your front yard".
Sadly, common sense ain't so common...
ReplyDeleteTo the total creepy punk who just tried to post here-
ReplyDeleteThis property is part of public record. And although I did not mention the owner's name here, that is public record as well.
So, as far as anyone suing me or punching me in the face, bring it on, big boy.
@10:46 I agree with you. Turf grass is not native to this area .
ReplyDeleteToo many people with too many different ideas living in neighborhoods with houses that are waaaay too close together.
ReplyDeleteI personally think grass is way overrated. In a town that prides itself on $100 million or more in new construction yearly, with water restrictions presently in place, and salt water intrusion a danger--do we really need to be allotting such a large amount of our limited water to grass?? In our dry season? And is this even a big enough issue for all this vitriol? Just from experience in my neighborhood it does seem "low hanging fruit" for fines while abandoned homes sit for years does happen. I have seen some "lawns" landscaped with crushed white rock and container plants that look great. I bought in Lake Worth because it did not seem to be just another cookie cutter condo community and retained some individuality and freedom of expression. I don't see a damn thing wrong with a lawn looking dry during our dry season. In just a few weeks we will be dreaming of a dry day. Do we really need the grass gestapo to be livable city? We have lots of elderly, some here for 50 years or more, who do all their own work including lawns. If they are sick for a week should they have to risk $500/day fines?
ReplyDelete