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Jail sentence does little to clear yard of old lumber

Poor health and few resources have hindered one man's efforts to clean up his yard. Now, a county official is working to help him out.

NEW PORT RICHEY - The headlines have faded, and Silvio Rosalen is out of jail, but the problem remains.

Stockpiles of second-hand lumber still clutter Rosalen's back yard. A shed, started in 2000, sits half-finished behind his home on Naftis Lane. Overgrown oaks spill over his fence.

And Rosalen - who spent 15 days in jail last month for contempt of court, for failing to clean up his back yard as a judge had ordered - is at a standoff with code enforcement.

After talking to the 62-year-old man with lingering health problems, County Commissioner Peter Altman decided to organize a cleanup Dec. 13 to put Rosalen in the clear.

"I have no criticism of the county or the courts doing what we've asked them to do," Altman said. "But ... if you look at someone who doesn't have the resources or physical ability to do something, sometimes it's easier to go in and help make it happen instead of continuing to use the court's time and the county's money to some uncertain end."

Altman is looking for volunteers to help Rosalen finish building his woodworking shed, trim some trees and haul away any unneeded wood.

Rosalen said he was "overwhelmed" by the commissioner's offer.

"I was going to do it eventually," said Rosalen, a former tool-and-die maker who has diabetes, high blood pressure and struggles with depression. "It will help speed it up for me."

Rosalen is one of the first people to go to jail under the county's revamped code enforcement system, which sends violators to a county judge instead of a lay-member board. Violators used to face fines and liens on their properties. Now they can go to jail if they fail to comply with a judge's order to fix the problem.

That's what happened to Rosalen - a Swiss immigrant and U.S. Army veteran who has no criminal record.

Code enforcement could use county crews or a county-hired contractor to clean up Rosalen's yard and send him the bill; but officials are holding off to see if Altman's volunteer crew can finish the job.

"The goal on everyone's mind is to get the property into compliance and, importantly, to keep it in compliance," said Joe Gross, the county's assistant zoning and code compliance administrator.

Rosalen said keeping his yard clean will mean an attitude adjustment: only picking up items he can use, being realistic about how quickly he can accomplish projects.

"I have to cut down on my dreaming of what I'm going to do and what I'm not going to do, and take one thing at a time," Rosalen said. "My problem is, I have too many good ideas and not enough time to fulfill them."

- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

Volunteers interested in cleaning up Silvio Rosalen's yard and finishing his woodworking shed may call County Commissioner Peter Altman's office at (727) 842-3262.