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Driveway debris could lead to fines
By SUZANNAH GONZALES INVERNESS -- From now on, Inverness residents will have to clean up after their own driveways. During its meeting Tuesday evening, the Inverness City Council unanimously approved changing a city ordinance so that property owners are now held responsible for any mess their driveways may cause to city streets. Officials are concerned with soft driveways made of dirt, worn grass, chips or leaves. Material that makes its way to the street "has the potential to create blockages in storm drains and related piping," City Manager Frank DiGiovanni wrote in a Jan. 31 memo. Under the revised ordinance, owners of property abutting city streets must maintain their paved or unpaved driveways in a way that prevents driveway material from washing out into city streets. Driveways also must be constructed with stabilized material that prevents erosion. Gravel or mulch may work to stabilize soil, suggested Ken Koch, the city's development services director, during a telephone interview on Wednesday. In addition, property owners now are required to keep the driveway elevation consistent with city sidewalks and obtain permits for driveway construction. The driveway problem is not a huge one, Koch said. Probably 99 percent of driveways in the city are paved, he estimated. But he said there are some soft driveways downtown and in older residential areas. "It's not a big problem," Koch said. "It just adds to our maintenance costs." If residents don't follow the ordinance, they would be contacted by city officials and given a certain number of days to comply, Koch explained. A resident who ignores the ordinance could be called before the Code Enforcement Board and possibly face fines up to $250 a day. In other news, city officials once again discussed double taxation, an issue council member Marc Wigmore has brought up since his campaign. Wigmore thinks it's not fair that city residents pay taxes to support the Citrus County Sheriff's Office for services the residents already pay for and receive from the Inverness Police Department. Council president John Sullivan took a different approach, saying the city has a great relationship with the county and, many times, the Sheriff's Office offers assistance to the city's police force. "If we start messing with this, we may get ourselves into something we don't want to be in," Sullivan said. The council decided to put off further discussion on the issue until city budget talks begin. The first budget workshop will be March 20. -- Suzannah Gonzales can be reached at 860-7312 or sgonzales@sptimes.com.
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