Businesses and individuals who brushed off Santa Rosa County code violations in the past may do well to pay attention to steps the Board of County Commissioners is taking to sharpen its code enforcement teeth for land development code (LDC). During the June 11 Commission Regular meeting, the BOCC moved to schedule a public hearing on a draft ordinance to have this very effect. The ordinance will do two things: let the BOCC hire a special magistrate just for code violations, and increase penalties.
Commissioner Lane Lynchard cited the example of a business in Gulf Breeze, which received a cease and desist order on activity against the LDC. He said this business was involved in “certain activities not in compliance with its zoning. Primarily, the (LDC) is to protect neighbors. Land use and planning and zoning are all to ensure that we have compatible uses side by side, and your neighbor’s property value is not negatively impacted by your use of your property. That’s what it's all about, being a good neighbor.”
This business the county cited in April, but the trial has been postponed to October. The county attorney, Roy Andrews, said, “We did have a hearing scheduled last Friday. The alleged violator appeared without his attorney present and asked to reschedule.”
According to Andrews, the advantage of the special magistrate is he or she would be dedicated for code enforcement. The court has a lot of other items this special magistrate would not have. The goal of our department is compliance. The issue has been a matter of trying to resolve the issues without having to have a judicial enforcement. In large part, most of the time that works. I think there were a total of 40 violations the clerk's office was able to tell me about.” He said only five were outstanding.
The draft ordinance specifically lists powers under the special magistrate’s authority. They will be able to subpoena alleged violators and witnesses for hearings as well as evidence. They can take testimony under oath. Finally, the special magistrate can assess and order the payment of civil penalties.
While a special magistrate can fast track a code violation issue, the teeth come in the penalties, sharpening as problems go unresolved. According to the current land development code, citations start at $50 and go up to $100, $250, then $400 for the second through fourth citation, and $400 for every one thereafter.
In the proposed ordinance, violations come in three categories. Category one includes untagged/inoperable vehicles, public nuisance, and graffiti with a civil penalty of $120 for the first violation. Category two includes permit violations and carries a $180 penalty. Category three includes illegal excavation and storm water violations with a $300 penalty. Repetition of violations also carries doubling penalties depending on whether they’re continuing, repeat, subsequent, or uncorrectable violations. Section 9, the citation fee schedule specifically notes “The civil penalty for each subsequent violation by any entity or individual shall be double the previous penalty to a maximum of $600.00 per day.”
Tony Gomillion, Santa Rosa County director of public services, said the problem in part started with the recession. He said the board expressed it wanted to help business owners, but since then the county has been “lenient in obtaining compliance.” He said the situations vary as well, some regarding businesses just starting while others may be businesses gravitating toward practices inappropriate for their site.
Gomillion said, in talks with the county, the $50 initial violation penalty is on the “very low end of the spectrum as far as impact and deterrence.” Note, in the current LDC, citations are not categorized, but are simply set by occurrence with the exception of protected tree violations, according to Gomillion’s office.
Lynchard did say there is a small element out there, one to three businesses treating ordinance violation penalties something akin to the cost of doing their business. “Like so many things, (there is a) handful of bad apples that eat up so much time and so much effort that we have to take this step. It's not like this is a common or widespread problem, but when it is a problem, we need to have as many tools as possible to enforce our land development code and protect our residents.”
Keep up with the Santa Rosa Press Gazette to see when and if the new code goes into effect. The new draft ordinance is available in the backup documentation for the June 11 BOCC meeting in the county's website and here.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: County cracks down on code violators