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Politics

City enters property dispute

On one side, a city commissioner and her husband. On the other, the county's property appraiser. For now, it's a stalemate.

By GINA PACE
Published September 21, 2006

DADE CITY - City Commissioner Camille Hernandez and her husband, David, have been renovating their home and property for nearly a decade.

They built a gazebo. They created a covered walkway to the garage. They removed trees and added landscaping.

But it was some of the most recent changes that pushed their neighbor - who happens to be Pasco County Property Appraiser Mike Wells - to finally complain, and the city to tell them to stop, at least for a while.

The problem, Wells said, was the Hernandezes' new brick wall and large planter on the west side of the property.

Rainwater normally flows down a hill on Eighth Street and down the Hernandezes' driveway, Wells said. But the new structures changed all that. Instead, after a heavy rain, water built up near the planter, then seeped under the brick wall onto Wells' property.

Wells said he talked to David Hernandez, who also has a role in civic life as an alternate on the city's board of adjustment. But several days passed, and Wells saw no change. That's when he called the city.

City officials looked into the issue and realized the couple's permit for many of the renovations had expired.

Meanwhile, David Hernandez poured a concrete slab to be used for garbage cans - without a permit, said City Manager Harold Sample.

Before any more could be done to change the property, City Engineer Jose Gil sent a stop-work order to the Hernandez household on Sept. 8.

Changing the topography of property and the way water flows is against city and state code and is prohibited by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly called Swiftmud, Gil said Tuesday.

On Friday, Gil's stop-work order was rescinded. According to Sample, David Hernandez said the way the newly poured concrete slab was slanted would actually divert the water back to its original course and away from Wells' yard. A letter Sample sent to the Hernandez family indicates they also agreed to remove structures adjacent to the road pavement on the right-of-way.

The couple was not fined, because the only thing not permitted was the concrete slab, which is traditionally overlooked in Dade City, Sample said.

He added that some of the stale permits the Hernandezes had were issued by the county when the city did not have a full-time building inspector, which further added to the confusion.

"The city has not stayed on top of permits," Sample said later.

That is to change soon, he said, because the city is in the process of moving from an antiquated manual paper system to a computerized permit tracking system, and now has a full-time inspector.

The city and the Hernandezes agreed last week to an on-site review with building inspector Robert Youmans within two weeks. Youmans said Wednesday that the Hernandezes had not yet called to schedule that review.

Camille Hernandez did not return messages seeking comment for this story. David Hernandez referred questions to Sample before hanging up the phone.

Wells is eager for the construction, which began in 1997, to be over.

"I understand what he's doing, and he wants to take that house and build something nice for his family," Wells said. "But I don't think anyone thought it would take this long."

Gina Pace can be reached at gpace@sptimes.com or 352 521-6518.

[Last modified September 21, 2006, 07:05:03]