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Belleair Beach homeowners face fines
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
BELLEAIR BEACH – City Council members voted unanimously June 13 to impose a nearly $100,000 fine on the owners of an unfinished house on Harbor Drive.
For two years officials have struggled to force Tom and Sandra Brown to finish renovations on their unoccupied home.
Council members voiced frustration over their inability to soothe neighbors of the home who complained that construction debris is blown into their yards and of the house’s unsightliness.
The fine is half of what the elected officials intended to impose. City Attorney Paul Marino said council members have been wrong during the past year when they spoke of the fine as $250-a-day. He said it was only $100-a-day, after this was pointed out by the Brown’s attorney, Dominick Amadeo, during a special meeting of the council on June 14.
Amadeo also claimed that some council members have discussed this issue outside of public meetings. Councilwoman Mary Schoonover was obviously disturbed by this allegation, saying that would be a violation of the Sunshine Law. Schoonover demanded more details from Amadeo, but he refused.
The special meeting was called by Mayor Lynn Rives to determine if the Browns had violated an agreement to have the house finished by May 19. County building inspector Jack Tipton told the commission that at least 10 weeks of work remained on the house.
Amadeo admitted the house wasn’t finished, but said the Browns would pay the city $500 a-week until a certificate of occupancy was issued for the house. Tipton warned the council that he would have to issue a certificate of occupancy if the Browns installed electrical power and water, a refrigerator and water heater. This, he said, even if the interior work remained undone.
Former Mayor Mike Kelly demanded an immediate fine, calling the unfinished house “a disgrace to me, my neighbors and the entire city.”
Kelly lives next to the Browns’ house.
Another neighborhood resident, Kevin Doyle, played to the city’s closed circuit TV camera that broadcasts city meetings on cable TV. Doyle turned away from the council to face the camera as he called the unfinished house “a hazardous situation.”
Even after chastisement by Rives to address the officials, Doyle turned repeatedly to the camera in back of the meeting room.
“This council needs to protect the citizens of this city,” Doyle said, adding that he has found roof shingles on his lawn with nails in them that could give his car a flat tire or that he might step on. He drew a sharp question from Councilman Richard Crowl when Crowl asked if Doyle was threatening a lawsuit against the city.
“If you do not resolve this issue I will be talking to people,” Doyle replied.
Crowl, an attorney, had proposed a compromise with the Browns. He submitted a written proposal in which, if the Browns admitted to having violated the completion agreement, they could continue work and pay a $25,000 fine per month until the house was finished.
Rives argued that he would prefer the greater fine be reinstated to be paid until the house is finished. He suggested that, if the Browns appealed the total fine after the house was finished; he would be willing to negotiate a total less than $100-a-day.
In a vote on Rives’ request, the council voted unanimously to reimpose the $100-a-day fine and to file a lien against the property. The council also directed Marino to file a legal action in state Circuit Court asking a judge to determine if the city had surrendered its right to file a lien on the house last year when the completion agreement was signed.
Amadeo and Marino said they disagreed on that legal question.
The Browns bought the house on the Intracoastal Waterway in 1997, according to county records.
After the Browns had moved in, they discovered a leaky roof had caused mold to grow into its walls. Their children allegedly became sick. Their house would have to be gutted.
The Browns decided they needed more room and started plans to raise it to three stories while getting rid of the mold. They hired architects and a contractor and began drawing permits.
Then, it started to fall apart. In 2004, hurricane winds severely damaged the already leaky roof. While the city started urging the Browns to repair the roof, they covered it with a blue tarp, arguing they planned to raise the roof.
After months of city pressure to finish the construction, the city’s Code Enforcement Board imposed fines. The fines were waived by the agreement in which the Browns pledged to finish the house by May 18, 2007.
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Article published on Thursday, June 21, 2007
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