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Volunteers come to the rescue
By ROBERT KING, Times Staff Writer
SPRING HILL -- The vacant lot next to Inez Cockrell's house was so cluttered with underbrush and dead trees that she feared her house would be swallowed up by flames if the lot ever caught fire. Beyond that, this small suburban jungle on India Drive near Deltona and Cortez boulevards had become a habitat for pests, including a snake that slithered out of it one day and killed Cockrell's dog. Cockrell's attempts to get help from the property owner, who lives in New Jersey, produced very limited results: a reimbursement for the removal of two pine trees leaning over her house. So Cockrell, 70, did what any other red-blooded Hernando County resident would do: She complained to a county commissioner. In this case, Diane Rowden got the call. Initially, Rowden found there was little -- through official channels -- that the county could do. Code enforcement couldn't issue a citation because no other dead trees were threatening nearby homes. And the county doesn't have an ordinance to force the removal of dead trees from property that's never been cleared to begin with. So Rowden and a group of a dozen county employees came up with a unique solution: They volunteered their time Saturday to clear the dead vegetation. In essence, they volunteered to ease Cockrell's fears. "I think it's wonderful. I got every one of their pictures," Cockrell said, referring to the snapshots she took of the volunteer brigade. "I told Diane that was my Christmas present." Rowden, who donned a Santa hat, red turtleneck and work gloves for the occasion, was joined in the clearing effort by a dozen county employees -- from Public Works director Charles Mixson to Public Works crew members Steve Adams and Ed Geroe. They donated their time. But they also donated personal tools and equipment it took to get the job done. Some might ask: Why, after putting in a full week at work, did they offer to work without pay on a Saturday? "It's Christmas," said Adams, who supervises a Public Works crew. "It's a need," said Geroe, who normally works under Adams. On Saturday, as volunteers, Adams and Geroe joked about how Geroe could ignore any order he didn't like. The volunteer effort spared Cockrell from taking matters into her own hands. She said she's been telling her husband, Richard, who is 70 and partially paralyzed, that she might get a saw and clear out the jungle herself. Rowden, a Democrat serving her first term on the commission, contacted the property owner and -- as a private citizen, not a commissioner -- obtained permission to enter the property and clear the debris. She said the volunteer work by the county employees was a beautiful gesture. But she said it was not a practical solution for dealing with the hundreds of vacant lots around Hernando County where fallen debris may be a problem. So, Rowden said she would ask the county's code enforcement committee to review the issue and recommend some answers. She admits that there may not be an easy solution. Enacting a county ordinance that requires property owners to clear debris from their land sounds nice. But enforcing it on uncooperative landowners would mean that the county might have to clear the land first and then put a lien on the property in hopes of collecting later. Such an arrangement would require the county to make a large upfront investment and, ultimately, could result in a thorny confrontation over property rights. "You can't just do it and put a lien on someone's property," Rowden said. "You can't just take someone's property." At the same time, Rowden said, lots such as the one next to the Cockrells' house are a fire hazard and an eyesore that need clearing. The irony of Saturday's volunteer effort is that, by his inaction, the owner who failed to cooperate had his lot cleared of dead vegetation at no cost. But that reality seemed to be one that Rowden and others could live with if it meant easing Cockrell's worries. "It's just been affecting the quality of her life," Rowden said. -- Robert King covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com .
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From today's Hernando Times |
