Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Good luck, Mr. homeowner

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published September 27, 2006

BELLEAIR BEACH ––  Given the tough home sales market, Bruce Sparks figured he needed to bring some attention to his multi-million dollar waterfront home.

So he put up a “4 Sale” sign -- on the roof, in bright red, 12-foot letters.

Sparks hoped the paint, which can be seen from the Belleair Beach Causeway, would draw the attention of boaters on the Intracoastal Waterway.

“I bought the property when prices were up and now nothing is moving on the beach,” he said. “I want to sell the property as quickly as possible, so I thought an attention-getter might help.”

So far, only a few boaters have asked about the property and Sparks has yet to receive any real offers.

But the high-gloss paint, which he also slapped on the back wall, has prompted complaints from neighbors to the city and Sparks’ real estate agent, Derri Davisson.

She called Sparks’ hand-painted roof sign “hilarious and creative”. But one neighbor, Davisson said, termed it: “low class.”

Sparks, a real estate investor, is asking $1.6-million for the property, which he bought last spring for $1.32-million.

The previous owners, who moved out of state, paid $275,000 for it 12 years ago, Sparks said.

He lives in the 1,600-square foot, two-bedroom, two-bath home with his wife and 14-year-old son.  “My son loves the water and doesn’t want to move, but that’s the way it is,” he said.

Sparks expects any buyer to raze the house, which was built nearly 40 years ago.

The city is neither impressed nor amused with Sparks’ stunt. Less than a week after he applied the bright red paint, Sparks received an official notice that he had violated the city’s advertising sign ordinance.

He was given five days –– which ended Wednesday –– to remove the sign.

City rules prohibit advertising signs at or on single family homes except for one small, carefully defined “for sale” or “for rent” sign, usually in the front yard. Waterfront lots are allowed two signs, one on the street and one facing the water.

Sparks has told city officials he cannot get a contractor to repaint the roof until at least this weekend. If he doesn’t, he could face fines of up to $250 a day.

Randy Lambe, a city police officer who doubles as the code enforcement officer, says he is willing to work with Sparks as long as he makes a good-faith effort to remove the roof sign.

“It’s a hot potato,” said Lambe, who has been inundated with telephone calls, e-mails and visits from upset neighbors.

The city, however, can’t do anything about the red paint on the rear walls of the house, Lambe said.

“We have no codes regulating what color people paint their homes,” he said.

[Last modified September 27, 2006, 21:05:30]