One way to get the city to enforce the codes on housing neglect.. Put up a blog about it.

[madfloridian]

This really did get results. The folks in Seminole Heights in Tampa used the tactics of those on Bayshore Boulevard...the Blvd folks took to the internet to get the city to clean up their properties after Gasparilla. Seminole Heights folks followed their lead.

This is an example of neighbors offering over and over to help someone clean their yard. Every offer was refused, and they were ignored by the code enforcement of the city....until they made a blog.

First a hat tip to Ybor City Stogie for giving it attention.


Picture courtesy for Ybor City Stogie

Then Stogie links to Sticks of Fire, another well-known Florida blog.

Bayshore residents have been complaining about Gasparilla for years, but it wasn’t until this year that these folks took to YouTube to graphically show the literal crap they have to deal with. With the videos online for everyone to see, event officials and city leaders had to address the problems of Gasparilla.

Of course, you have bad neighbors, too: the guy who has a disabled boat in his front yard; the guy who mows his grass twice a year whether it needs it or not; the one with the big hole in the front window; the single family home with 15 people living there (and their 8 cars). That’s right – we call the cops for immediate assistance or dangerous conditions, we call county Child Protective Services for the kids’ sake, and they both refer us to Code Enforcement. But Tampa’s code enforcement historically gives offenders a lot of time to remedy the problems, sometimes lasting for months and months.

And for the next door neighbor who must look at the mess every day and deal with the unrest every night, months and months is a long time to consider the effect on property value, quality of life, and safety. So – like the Bayshore Filmmakers – some are taking to the web to drum up support. Here in Tampa, a small group of neighbors have created a single blog to convince the city to get moving on a single property.

The house with these alleged problems is at 6003 Otis Avenue in Seminole Heights, and the name of the blog with complaints, photos, and code enforcement updates is entitled 6003 Otis Ave. Seeing the bloggers’ reports on a progression of events there and reading of the delays by government entities is certainly compelling.

The blog apparently got quick results.

It is called the street address of the house.

Long before ever contacting Code Enforcement, we offered to buy the paint and paint the house for the homeowner. He refused our offer. We also, on numerous occasions, offered to help clean up the yard. Again, the owner refused. We offered to buy the wood he needed to repair his roof. Once again, refusal. There have been many a time when we tried to reach out to help and the offers were refused.

We just felt that people should know that we are not keeping this blog, or acting the way we are out of hatred, nor are we malicious at all. We, as a neighborhood, have tried many times to help the homeowner, and we feel that there is only so much you can do, and so many times you can be refused.
Hopefully this clears up any question anyone may have had about our intentions.

Here are the recent results:

Dear *******

"Thank you for using the City of Tampa Customer Service Center. Action File #09-19830 was created and cited for having accumulations of junk and debris on the property. The next inspection is scheduled for the third week of October. Action File #09-20067 was created and cited for repairs to be performed on the roof, doors, and windows with permits being pulled from Construction Services Center, and only one accessory structure is allowed on the property, the second accessory is to be removed. The next inspection is scheduled for the second week of October."

From this, it seems that they are giving 6003 Otis Ave approximately 30 days to come into compliance on the repairs and about maybe 14 to get the junk cleaned up. At least now, in writing, they are pointing out that permits must be pulled in order to complete this work.

The sad part is that it has taken this blog to actually get someone to do something.

There are interesting comments there on all their work.

Here is an article about the how other neighborhoods handled the Gasparilla madness in their streets and yards.

The parade continues to be a family event, he said, and coarse behavior by some in the crowd is a reflection of changes in the larger society, not something peculiar to Gasparilla.

Homeowners, like those in the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, took to the streets Saturday with cameras and questions, hoping to compile enough evidence to prove to the city that their complaints of sex, drugs and public urination were big concerns.

The civic group and Bayshore area neighbors will be at a town hall meeting with city officials and parade organizers on March 18, 6:30 p.m. at the Florida Aquarium to discuss the situation.

[madfloridian]

1. They even got coverage by ABC Action News

Neighbors fed up with local eyesore

Cain says for the past six months, his Seminole Heights neighborhood has been dealing with an eyesore. "For some reason there’s accumulations in the yard, trash, the house is falling apart and they just don't seem to care."

After filing several formal complaints with Tampa's Code Enforcement Office, Stephen says decided to take matters into his own hands. He created a blog, including pictures and the dialogue between neighbors and the city. Then he called ABC Action News.

"To get it out there to get eyes on the page, maybe to get people to listen," Cain says.

Reporter Kerry Kavanaugh contacted the city Code Enforcement and they said they received several complaints about this home dating back to April. They said there was an active complaint open, but the next code enforcement inspection wasn't scheduled until October 5th. Shortly after ABC Action News showed up, Code Enforcement arrived to inspect the property.

A video accompanies the story and pictures.

[Trillo]

2. That's quite the punishment.

Perhaps a privacy law needs enacting.

It used to be illegal to be a peeping Tom. That camera seems to be looking over a 6-foot fence.

Hope the owner can afford legal representation. Perhaps they just don't want to live like mini-CEOs in a gentrified mini-palace.

[madfloridian]

3. What an odd statement.

:shrug:

[TheOtisBlog]

4. peeping tom

Trillo,

That is my privacy fence, which really does nothing for privacy. If I went five feet to my left, there is a 3ft picket fence. Just thought the higher perspective would make it easier to see all the junk.
Mini-ceo's? This is a middle class neighborhood. I could care less how they live their lives or raise their kids, but when it encroaches on my rights, then i have a problem. Not being able to enjoy my backyard because all i can hear is that woman screaming the F word at her kids, that makes it my problem.

[Trillo]

7. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."

Look it up sometime, plenty of Google phrase results.

---

Let us consider a hypothetical:
1.The owner of the property, the one you dislike, allows you to change it to suit your idea of beauty. Like the hypothetical so far?
2.The county allows the property area to be divided by inside versus outside area. The house foundation is thus one division line, the other division line is the outer perimeter of the outside area. Not sure where I'm going with this?
3.Are you, or you and your supporters, now willing to pay the property tax on the outside area of the property in question? My guess is you don't like this. However, this is fair, as the yard is now fixed up to your idea of beauty. The people that live there don't like it, but, hey, they've got to comply with your wishes, after all, and they can live with it since you now pay the property tax.

The problem as I see it is this, the people that you dislike so much may like things the way they are. That may be their idea of beauty, or perhaps "utility" is a better word.

Whether there is a health and safety violation that threatens you or your other neighbors, such as open discharge of sewage, etc., or whether there is child abuse that is occurring there, are separate issues. The main issue is that you've just publicly skewered some folks who may wish, indeed seem like they want, to be left alone. If what you write is true, and I'm not saying it isn't, it seems they don't want your help. Why that is is hard to say, and would merely be a guess. Is it their right to say "No" to you?

---

Let us consider a different hypothetical scenario. Let us say there are three houses right around you that you don't like looking at, but this one is "the worst" by far according to your definition of beauty. So lets rank them, #1, #2, and #3. Let's further say you make it so the people whose house is pictured above, who live in such a way that you cannot stand it, to sell and move away. An upper middle class family moves in, decides to bulldoze the house and start over, and builds that mini-McMansion (nothing terribly oversized, just with new architecture).

Now you're happy with that property, but what about #2 and #3? Well, we can now say that both of them just shifted, now what was #2 is #1 "junk property", and what was #3 is now #2 "junk property". Get it?

At first you are really happy that the yard you disliked so much is gone and the new people that moved in are keeping their new yard the way you like a yard to be kept. A few months go by, but you start looking at what was junky house #2 and is now junky house #1. It starts bothering you more and more, and you begin to wonder. Why do you have to look at that junky house with their old, rusty cars (that still run, but are noisy when they start up), when nearly everyone else has gotten with the community to some kind of local standard. So, you approach them and they also don't want your help. So you publicly skewer them on your blog, and you get the greater community all riled up. So the whole thing repeats, and the house is bulldozed and rebuilt to new, modern standards. You're happy once again.

But what about what was originally junky house #3, then became junky house #2, that is now junky house #1? So, this same phenomenon keeps repeating, as there is always going to be the ugliest yard on the street, as each is relative to all the others. Each new home that is built, or remodeled, is to a modern standard of architecture. Pretty soon, a few decades perhaps, the entire neighborhood changes to an upper middle class neighborhood, and you've been blogging all along, skewering each and every home that didn't fit your standards. Now, you live in a beautiful neighborhood of beautiful people, where "water even flows uphill" it's become so magical, property values have even risen. You're finally happy, but you're getting older now.

You have more aches and pains, and you're on a lower income, Social Security perhaps. Because of that you can no longer afford to remodel your house like all the other houses that had incurred your wrath. Those old neighbors that you thought were so nice start blogging about you and your junky house. After all, it's not really maintained like a rich person could afford, your cars have gotten old, and you're now on a limited income, maybe even seeing a doctor for some kind of chronic issues, perhaps osteoarthritis. When you were working you were only in the middle class, now you're surrounded by upper middle class "beautiful people" with higher incomes who realize you're now junky house #1.

So they force you out by inflaming the contempt of the greater community, just like you had. You sell at firesale prices, because face it, your house is now the oldest, junkiest, and poorest house on the street.

[madfloridian]

8. Oh, now that is really just a ridiculous analysis.

I would not sit back and see one house in my neighborhood look like that and hurt the whole area.

I would fight.

[TheOtisBlog]

9. So what you're saying is...

These people have a right to live how they want, and keep as much junk in their yard as they would like, but my neighbors and I have to abide by city codes that were in place before any of us moved in?

Huh, ok, so what you're saying is that the city codes we all agree to by owning a home, are really voluntary? Wow, then what the hell are we complaining about? Sorry about that, we were very mistaken.


Beauty and standards...really? You obviously have missed the entire point of what we are doing? Do you even own a house? These punk rock ideals that we all have in high school and college sound great, but if you keep your head there, you'll end up being another neighbor who doesn't take responsibility and is always the victim.

[Trillo]

10. Where are the codes?

I see nothing about any "codes" in any of the excerpted writing. A lot of strawmen and judgmentalism. Little else.

It is notable that you didn't answer one of my questions, but then fired a bunch back. They tread into private matters about me :wtf:. I'm not the issue here. You really do seem to have a repeating behavior pattern about violating others privacy.

Edit: What I suggest you do, and I can't advise you legally as I'm not an attorney, is that you put up an 8-foot mortar wall. Brick and mortar, or cement block and mortar (or if you want to get fancy, poured cement, but it's more labor intensive and requires removable "forms" be built). These wall types deaden and reflect sound, which is somewhat directional, particularly crying kids and harried parents. A wood fence does nothing to block sound, it vibrates in sympathy (that's why musical instruments soundboards are made of wood).

8-feet partly to block the sound waves, but even more importantly, that is the height that will, provided the rest of your area is level and presuming you're not much taller than 6', block all but the peak of that "ugly" house's roof from your view, particularly when you're in your backyard. Then all you'll be able to see is your yard, other neighbor's tallish trees and, if there are surrounding hills, them too. Oh, and it perhaps will help you to focus on creating the beauty you want in your yard, by keeping the distraction of others yards somewhat more out of your mind.

A 6-foot wall is simply not quite high enough, though it's better than no wall at all given the circumstances.

There's an old saying that seems appropriate. Good walls make good neighbors.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

Robert Frost

[madfloridian]

12. Every city has codes for homeowners.

[TheOtisBlog]

14. Still dont get it

Have you read any of the blog, or did you see the news segment where "Code" Enforcement finally showed up. Did you read the entry from the Mayor about "Code" Enforcement? Did you see the entry from "Code" Enforcement about the citations issued?


Here are the codes: http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=10132&sid=9

Sec. 19-49. Excessive accumulation of debris, rubbish, trash, etc., declared a public nuisance.
The existence of any accumulations of debris, rubbish, trash, garbage, refuse, garden trash, snipe signs and junk, as defined in this chapter, upon any lot, tract or parcel of land, improved or unimproved, within the incorporated boundaries of the city, to the extent and in the manner that such lot, tract or parcel with nuisance vegetation which exceeds a height of twelve (12) inches over the majority of the parcel or may threaten or endanger the public health, safety or welfare or may reasonably cause disease or adversely affect and impair the economic welfare of adjacent property is hereby prohibited and declared to be a public nuisance.
(Ord. No. 89-269, § 2(48-34), 10-12-89; Ord. No. 90-124, § 2(48-34), 5-17-90; Ord. No. 96-204, § 14, 9-26-96)
Cross references: Placing solid waste on streets, vacant lots, etc., § 26-149; accumulations of debris, rubbish, trash, garbage, refuse, garden trash or junk between paved or graded surface of street or alley and property line declared public nuisance, § 26-168.




Invading privacy?? I knew you weren't paying attention. The whole reason for this is that i can not sit in my backyard without hearing the woman next door yelling obscenities. Every time my wife walks out there, she has to the woman calling her every name in the book and speaking ill of our unborn children, from behind a 6ft fence; MY fence which is rotting because of debris and wood they have stacked against it. You're damned right this is about privacy. My privacy and my rights as a homeowner.

[Trillo]

19. No, I didn't go to your blog.

I'm really quite curious. You cite code about "trash", yet you repeatedly complain of offensive sound. Do you not see a logical disconnect there?

Here are some words in the 'related' code: "between paved or graded surface of street or alley and property line"

Whoops. That privacy-violating photo you took appears to be of their backyard, I see no street or alley between what you claim is your fence and their yard, so backyards seems a reasonable guess at least to me.

There's another saying that might be appropriate: "One man's junk is another man's treasure" (please forgive the gender specificity, to find it using a search engine it's better to quote the actual phrase rather than make it gender neutral). It relates to the "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" phrase.

I can't tell what that stuff is in the photo exactly, but it seems to be kids toys, that's my best guess. Whether those toys are "trash" or "junk" as the code says is hard to say at this point, without knowing more.

"debris, rubbish, trash" seem to be key words in the code. When I think of rubbish and or trash, I think of empty cereal boxes, rotting vegetables, torn paper, used tissues and paper towels, empty disposable food trays, empty beverage containers, old newspapers, junk mail, etc. Much of this, though not all would become odorous. "Debris" is more broad, but still indicates something to be thrown away, something that isn't wanted, and that is further reinforced by the logical grouping of the phrase within the code.

It's not clear to me that stuff in their backyard meets the codes' requirements to be considered a public nuisance.

[TheOtisBlog]

21. Again, think before you speak

I sent you a link, thinking that you had a brain to use and could look up noise codes yourself, but obviously I was wrong.

Obviously, you didn't read any of the link to the public codes either. If you had, you would have seen that "Sec. 19-3. Definitions.", list the definition of everything they are talking about.

It doesn't matter what your idea or my idea or anyone else's idea of rubbish is; if you own a home, you have to go by the cities definition. Also, if I take a photo from MY backyard, I am not violating anyone's privacy. You could stand on the sidewalk in front of my house, filming me all day long and there is nothing I can do about it.

Your philosophies of beauty and treasure versus junk all sound great, but that isn't how this society operates. One day, when you own a house and pay taxes you will understand. Until this time, just stop trying because you will always be wrong.

[Trillo]

23. One must turn on scripting to see Section 19-3.

Anyone who designs a webpage that requires scripting to see it is trying to make the page less visible.

Without scripting on, I can't even see the code you've related, and turning scripting on is a security hazard. Are you implying that you copied the code incorrectly?

You have admitted that you didn't copy all the relevant code. Yet you seem to think others are the morons.

[TheOtisBlog]

24. code

No, the code was copied and pasted word for word. Never had a problem with that site. Go back to studying music and come up with a better excuse for your losing argument.

[Trillo]

25. I don't see the definitions.

You have an inability to understand any point of view other than your own. I'll presume the answer to my question that I asked you so long ago is "No": no one may say "no" to you.

Even politeness is met with your scorn and contempt. I'll have to leave it at that. :hi:

[Name removed]

26. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madfloridian]

16. You are quoting Robert Frost?

[TheOtisBlog]

18. Robert Frost

I really think it depends on the SIZE and noise canceling factor. Robert obviously didn't leave near 6003 Otis

[madfloridian]

20. Heh heh Robert had lovely woods around him.

"In 1920, Frost bought ‘Stone House’ (now a museum) in South Shaftsbury, Vermont. There he wrote many of the poems contained in his fourth collection of poetry New Hampshire (1923) which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923. It includes “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening”;

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

While he also farmed on the idyllic property with its breathtaking views of mountains and valleys, another project Frost undertook was the founding of the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Ripton, Vermont. After his son Carol married Lillian LaBatt (1905-1995) and his grandson Prescott arrived, he gave them Stone House to live in where Carol planted his thousand apple trees. Frost bought a second farm in Shaftsbury, “The Gulley”. At the height of his career, his next collection of poems West-running Brook (1928) was published just one year before another great loss of a loved one hit him; his sister Jeanie died."

http://www.online-literature.com/frost/


I doubt he had to deal with neighbors with junk in their yards.

[TheOtisBlog]

22. I was thinkg "Good fences make good neighbors"

[Mariana]

15. You did the right thing. The junk is a health hazard.

In the future when you call or (better) write to the city to complain, try pushing the health hazard angle. Tell them you're seeing rats and they're coming in your yard, make the point about mosquitoes breeding there, and so on. I know people who've had good results using that approach.

[TheOtisBlog]

17. Code Enforcement

Unfortunately the 10 times the neighborhood had written, it went unattended. Look at 6003OtisAve.blogspot When CE came to the house, they denied ever receiving my pictures or permission to come on my property. They also told me that since it is near the river, rats are just a given.

It's just a shame we had to take matters into in our own hands to get someone to listen. Still waiting on DCF and HKI to respond to everything that has happened over there.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

[Mariana]

13. Vermin like to take up residence in piles of junk like that.

Rats and mice, along with their fleas and ticks. Roaches. There may also be venomous snakes or stray cats. Mosquitoes breed there. That place is a health hazard to the whole neighborhood.

[TheOtisBlog]

5. Thank you

Thank you for spreading the word! I actually had not heard the story about Bayshore when I started this. I just couldnt think of anything else to do to get the city to take note.

[madfloridian]

6. There will be even more problems in foreclosed properties...

and the neighbors will have to band together when there are houses that make the rest of the neighborhood look bad.

Sounds like you guys tried everything else.

Good luck.

[TwilightGardener]

11. A little off topic, but Gasparilla is such an embarrassing, sucky, empty ripoff

of Mardi Gras. It made me hate Tampa.