Century Discusses Code Enforcement With County

September 16, 2008


The Century Town Council is looking at options for bringing code enforcement back to the town, and Monday they sat down with the county’s top code enforcement official to discuss options.

“We enforce everything on our books equally and fairly,” Sandra Slay, Escambia County’s code enforcement manager, told the council at a workshop meeting.

“The best way to keep yourself out of a lawsuit is to follow the rules, not bend or break the rules,” she said

Typically, the code enforcement process begins with a code officer writing a “notice of violation” with some period of time from five to 30 days for the violator to work toward correcting the problem. If the alleged violator complies with the notice, or makes the effort to comply, the county’s code enforcement department  will usually work with them to solve the issue.

“The only time we write a citation is say when we give a notice you have two weeks to cut your grass, and you haven’t hit a lick,” Slay said, “You get a citation.”

“They are going to give you the time that is reasonable. They will work with you,” she said. For instance, a person that will need to hire a contractor to repair a cited building might not be able to get a contractor to start the job for several weeks.

Previously, Century ended an agreement with Escambia County to provide code enforcement in the town. Under that agreement, the county’s code enforcement officers worked Century and wrote citations that were turned over to the town for abatement. The services were provided by the county at no charge to Century.

The arrangement came under fire, with allegations that the county’s officers provided selective enforcement, citing some people but no others. That prompted the council to sever the relationship with Escambia Code Enforcement. Now, there is no code enforcement at all in the town.

But now, council members are ready to look at returning code enforcement to the town. The council has considered another agreement with Escambia County providing code enforcement, and they have also discussed the possibility of hiring their own code enforcement officer.

If Escambia County provides Century’s code enforcement, Slay said she would expect her officers to be able to fairly do their jobs in the town.

“I’m not bending the law for anybody,” she said. “We are going to enforce what is on the books.”

In the county’s current system, a ticketed violator can appeal to a special magistrate that will hear their case. It is a judicial process, with the magistrate having the legal authority to impose fees and fines, and place liens on properties when fines are not paid.

“It is not our intention to take your property,” Slay told the council and about a dozen citizens at the meeting. “But if you fail to take care of it, they could foreclose on it.” The foreclosure process, she said, does not ever happen on property with a homestead exemption.

If a citizen does not abate, or take care of, the problem for which they were cited,  they get to visit the special magistrate. The special magistrate, if the person is found guilty, can impose fines of $1 to $250 a day until a problem is corrected. A $1,100 court cost fee is also accessed to guilty parties. If unpaid, a lien for the amount of the fine and costs is placed on ever piece of property owned by the accused. Those liens stay active for 20 years, and carry 6.8 percent interest rate on unpaid balances.

If a person is physically or financially unable to correct the problem on their property, several community groups often step into help, Slay said.

Century Mayor Freddie McCall said that if a citizen of Century was about to face the magistrate, he wanted the town notified. That way, he said, the town could attempt to find a community group or church to help a person in need rectify their code violation.

“It take a community effort to get this area cleaned up,” Slay said. “It kills me see some of the things in this town.”

Slay said if the town only wanted her department’s county code enforcement officers to make the initial contact while the town served as its own magistrate board, she was not interested.

“If all you want is for us to go out there and write violations, then no,” she said. “If all you are wanting to do is get someone to just do your inspections, then we are not coming up here.”

The council recently discussed the council members acting as the appeals board for code violations in the own, but Slay said that would violate Florida law. “You cannot legally sit as that board,” she said.

“I don’t think we want to do that anyway,” McCall said. “That would be too political.”

Council President Ann Brooks said, “I don’t think we have any more money to spend”. If the council creates their own code enforcement division  and hires an officer, they will be looking at tens of thousands of dollars in expenses. If the county provides code enforcement for the town, the town’s cost will be zero.

The council voted to table any action on code enforcement until after a public meeting. That public meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 29, at the Ag Building on Highway 4.

Pictured above: An abandoned building on North Century Boulevard in the southern part of Century. Building such as these could become the target of code enforcement in Century. Pictured below: A dilapidated home on Freedom Road in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos.

Comments

5 Responses to “Century Discusses Code Enforcement With County”

  1. Trish on September 16th, 2008 3:15 pm

    Everyone is not going to be happy no matter what the decision is. Yes the town needs to clean its own. BUT, some code enforcement is better than no code enforcement. I don’t want to live next to someone who doesn’t care to pick up mounds of trash out of their yard, or has 20 broken down cars in their yard, or has walls proped up by 2×4’s. It is a matter of pride and very few have it. With the city I am sure it is money. Maybe if there was money available then things could be cleaned up. They even hint that they want to raise taxes and there is an outcry! You get what you pay for.

    Having the “government” come in is the only way to clean it up. If everyone worked together as you think they should then we would not have this problem. If everyone worked together we would not need the sheriff’s department, we would not have to worry about someone speeding, we would not have to worry about drugs being sold down the street. This is not a perfect world and if you think that the only way to handle it is to let people work together then you are in for a rude awakening. People need to wake up, I just hope you don’t ever want to sell your property because if every other property around you looks like the town dump then you are going to wait a long time before you get an offer.

  2. concerned citizen on September 16th, 2008 1:23 pm

    I agree that Century needs code enforcement however it should be done by following the rules that are laid down. Unfortunately, this will adversely affect the poor as code enforcement always does. The person or persons enforcing code will have to be someone who is able to determine the difference between a home that the residents are doing the best they can in their means to keep the home and yard up and those who are just piling up the garbage.

    The town of Century itself needs to do some enforcing of their own property before the town council deems others in town to be a disgrace. I was visiting the pharmacy on Mayo street and noticed that the town of Century has let the “old” pharmacy building go into total disrepair.

    There are trees growing from the roof top. The roof has collapsed over a portion of the building; windows are broken out. There are no doubt vermin all about. This appears to be as bad or worse than those pictures Northescambia.com posted today.

    The town must set the example don’t you think? Just as parents do their children.

  3. S.L.B on September 16th, 2008 10:17 am

    I agree…there are many places all along Hwy.29 in Century and the outskirts that have buildings and homes that are condemned and such a huge eyesore to the community.
    With the hwy infrustructure growth on the rise, it is really embarrasing for this community to know that travelers are passing through and are looking at this and pre-judging Century as a poor run down town.

    I personally am very proud to be a part of the Century community and would love to see all the goals set , accomplished in a kind professional manner. Lets get our town cleaned up and our affairs in order so we can grow in a positive way for all who live and shop in Century,Florida. Thank you

  4. Elizabeth on September 16th, 2008 9:13 am

    In this day and age, I suppose that this idea is a long shot at best, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to have the land owners work together to clean up the mess? Century has the potential to be a gorgeous little town, but you can’t readily see the beauty with the shape the town is in. In its current state, I’ve had friends come to Century who have never been here before make comments like, “This place looks scary.” I’m no economic guru, but if I were a business owner looking to open a new office, I wouldn’t put my business anywhere near a town where so many of the buildings on the main highway are dilapidated.

    Having the town fix the problem won’t work because you know that people will play favorites. Having the county fix the problem won’t work because the north end is always snubbed. Having government come in and fix a problem almost always just makes it worse. The only working solution I see here is for everyone to just work together to make it happen…the way our grandparents and great-grandparents took care of their town.

  5. concerned on September 16th, 2008 6:55 am

    I don’t think Century needs to be in control of this project. Let the county do it.
    Other than not having the finances to pay for it , I’m sure it will lead to some sort of
    scandal. Also, go up the hill a little from the first photo, that’s a place that needs
    cleaning up.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News