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Letter to the editor

Code cuts: ugly news?

The department loses 12 employees. That alarms some homeowners.

By CRISTINA SILVA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 12, 2007

To homeowner Judy Ellis, a car parked illegally on a neighbor's front lawn is an early sign that a neighborhood could be in trouble.

That's when the city's Code Compliance Assistance Department usually steps in, reprimands the violator and makes sure all is well.

But in the aftermath of the state's recent tax reform mandate, Ellis isn't so confident that will be the case in the future.

St. Petersburg's codes department was one of the hardest hit when Mayor Rick Baker announced this summer that 70 city employees would get the boot. The department suffered a 25 percent reduction in staff, including eight code inspectors, two technicians and two supervisors.

The downsizing has alarmed some residents, who have come to count on the department to maintain order and now fear that it could take longer for the city to address complaints.

"You simply can't spread people that thin and not expect that it won't impact the quality of service," said Ellis, president of the Lakewood Estates Civic Association. "Then you start to see the quality of life in your neighborhood go down, and the neighborhood itself may begin to degrade because of stuff like this."

Last week, the department went to work with 12 fewer employees for the first time since the property tax cuts were announced.

Complaints will be handled in order of priority, with health and safety issues taking top billing, said David Metz, deputy mayor for neighborhood services.

"We are going to make it work," Metz said. "We are not going to let the ball drop."

Code inspectors inspect violations, send notices and pursue legal means to achieve code compliance. Common violations are improper property and yard maintenance and zoning issues.

Some homeowners fear that unchecked code violations could hurt property values.

"There is a tipping point," Ellis said. "You don't ever want to look out your window one day and say, 'Oh, my God, we are on the verge of becoming an undesirable neighborhood because someone let one issue slide.' "

Since the budget cuts were announced, some neighborhoods have debated whether they should take matters into their own hands and start code watch organizations that would operate like neighborhood crime watches.

In Pinellas Park, homeowners recently set up a Web page where residents can report code violators.

"We are going to go on codes watch, is what it boils down to," said Barbara Hawkins, president of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association. "People in the neighborhood will have to pick up the slack."

Officials said they would encourage residents to try to resolve code violations within their communities through dialogue and collaboration.

"If handed properly, it does not have to be one individual against another," said Sally Eichler, codes director.

Not everyone thinks a smaller codes department spells doom and gloom.

Barbara Heck, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, said homeowners need to be patient if code inspectors do not jump at the first report of an overgrown lawn.

"We need to understand the difference between health and safety issues and what we term quality-of-life issues and put priority on the first," she said.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Top 10

These are the top code violations in St. Petersburg, according to the Codes Compliance Assistance Department.

- Operating a business from a residential property

- Adding dwelling units without proper permits

- Parking commercial equipment or vehicles in a residential area

- Leaving domestic equipment on a residential lot

- Failing to maintain structures

- Parking on the lawn

- Failing to maintain paint or exterior siding on a structure

- Storing inoperative motor vehicles

- Leaving junk or rubbish in the yard

- Failing to maintain the yard

[Last modified August 11, 2007, 23:05:16]