CAO-20-0045

Published agenda

Heard once, at the Board of County Commissioners on Jun 30, 2020.

OutcomeAdopted by the Board of County Commissioners on Jun 30, 2020

Approved to adopt by roll call vote with Commissioner Starkey voting nay and Commissioner Oakley absent from the vote.

Official title

AN ORDINANCE BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PASCO COUNTY FLORIDA PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 42, PASCO COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR MODIFICATION; REPEALER; SEVERABILITY; INCLUSION INTO THE PASCO COUNTY CODE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

Every appearance1 of 1 are in a recording

TranscriptWhat was said at each appearance is below it. Machine transcription, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 85% of 113 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.

1Jun 30, 2020
Board of County CommissionersP3Public hearingAdopted
Approved minutes
Approved to adopt by roll call vote with Commissioner Starkey voting nay and Commissioner Oakley absent from the vote.
Open this item →
23m
Jack Mariano
I four questions. Um item P three, do we have proof, please?
Madam Clerk
Yes, Commissioner, we have uh pub proof of publication in the Tampa Bay Times on April 26, 2020.
Jack Mariano
Thank you. Okay. I'll I'll go ahead and let staff take this on.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Mr. Chairman, P3 is an ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, providing for the amendment of Chapter 42. Two Pasco County Code of Ordinances providing for modification, repealer, severability, inclusion in the Pasco County Code providing for an effective date. This was last before you at your uh early June meeting. And the board requested the county attorney's office
add some language. That gave you some control over how many times property might be cut. Uh we've added into section five. At the bottom of the That paragraph Uh for those violations under two A, which exceed one acre prior to the Prior to the county suspending fund spent prior to the county of spending funds to correct. the offending condition, the Board of County
Commissioners must approve the taking of corrective action. We believe that that addresses at least some of the commissioner's concerns. Other than that, with some clarifications in some paragraphs about. Um improved property, the ordinance remains the same as it was at your last hearing.
Jack Mariano
Thank you, Mr. Steinsteider. Um questions, comments at this time.
Um I have a question uh
Mrs. Last Nighter. Mr. Sharky, pull your camera down just a little bit where I only see half of you. There you go. Perfect. Well
Kathryn Starkey
Trying to squeeze my lunch in here sometimes.
Jack Mariano
We can only see your eyes. Actually.
Kathryn Starkey
Mr. Steinsider, could you go over what exactly will be the responsibility of the owner of this golf course if this goes through just for clarity? Thank you.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
So this ordinance does not just apply to golf courses, but if in in the event that A golf course is left in a abandoned condition. It would be the golf course owner's responsibility, having improved the property at some point to make it a golf course, to maintain it at eight inches. The whole course?
The whole course.
Kathryn Starkey
Yeah, I I um I still object to this. I I I think um I think having a band around people's houses is prudent, uh, that should be mowed for fire safety and Um just safety in general, but I don't understand how you force uh someone whose business has failed. to um continue to spend money. I I think the better Better
solution and I don't know what Commissioner Mariano has done with this neighborhood, but the better solution. is for the neighborhood to come up with a way that this part, this golf course can be part of their community. I don't think uh if you buy property with the and you don't own what's behind you, you're not guaranteed. Uh of you? And and so um It's unfortunate they haven't worked out a deal to help um pay
for some of the upkeep of the golf course. I don't think anyone does a course like this anymore. If if uh someone's building a golf course in a neighborhood, it's it's pretty much mandatory that everyone in that neighborhood pays a a a a percentage to keep the golf course
Dings. You know, they all need the dues to help maintain the golf course. So I I think what this is going to do is hasten something that folks don't want. Um Which is a bankruptcy on um this With this gentleman or the sale to a developer. But you can't force someone To um to stay in business when when it's not working. So uh I'd love to see an MSBU maybe for this community. And
Some of this property could be a park. Some of the property probably could be developed. I understand that the the landowner who again I've never met, never heard from, never talked to. Own some piece of land by the clubhouse. Which he wanted to develop, and I think it's zoned res mine or something like that. And his intent, this is what an HOA leader told me, was to develop that property and then he would have had those those be
required to pay into the golf course. So then he would have had income coming in.
Um, but he needed to get an easement from the HOA. because it clipped part of the tennis courts, but they denied him the ability to get to that property. Um And so uh Yeah, so he's really stuck. He's really stuck and I I just I I find this kind of un American. Um People, like I said before, uh lived on uh they backed up to what is now Longleaf. And
they came to the county when we came in for our for rezoning. Um, and so they paid extra for the view of our ranch. Yeah. They didn't want their view to go away and so they wanted the county to not allow us to develop our property. Um, which is not legal. And and so I I think this will be challenged. Because I don't I don't see how this is legal. I know I know that Seminole County has it. But um why why only one county
in the state when this when these golf courses are failing all over the state? So Um I agree that he he would I think it should be modified to say 25 or 30 feet behind each home, but not the whole golf course.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Commissioner Starkey, that's what your existing ordinance that we're modifying says.
Kathryn Starkey
You said he had to mow the whole golf course.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
What I'm saying is your existing ordinance that this is modifying Creates a thirty foot buffer. County Attorney was instructed that that wasn't sufficient. That's why this ordinance is before you.
Kathryn Starkey
Yes, and I and I objected then and I I'm just objecting again. Because I don't I I don't I don't see how this is legal. I think it'll be challenged. Um And I think it hastens something probably those residents don't want and a better solution. is to find a solution. a different solution for that community. You don't own your view if you don't own the property unless you're backing up to a wildlife. protected
land or water Um You you don't own the view.
Jack Mariano
Um thank you, Commissioner. Uh now I I I remember this is a public hearing. And uh I do wanna if everybody's okay with it, I would like to um ask if we have anybody send up this for this item before we go back to staff and Mr.
Chairman.
Okay. Yeah, Commissioner Weightman. Mr.
Jack Mariano
Chairman Jack Mariano, could I speak before we go to public comment?
Jack Mariano
No, that's fine. I just want to make sure you guys knew. I think we do have people signed up. I'm not correct, Madam
Jack Mariano
Clerk? That's
Jack Mariano
fine. Okay.
Jack Mariano
I just want
Jack Mariano
to
Jack Mariano
cover a couple points
Jack Mariano
that she
Jack Mariano
had mentioned. Okay. Go ahead. So in Seminole County where I One of the places I got the idea from. Also Winter Practice got a similar ordinance where they make then maintain their golf course. Um You've got issues that are out there between stormwater, number one, these needs to be maintained. Uh This doesn't really deal with that, but you get rats and snakes uh that people are dealing with right now. Um And it's a little different from buying a piece of property next to a farmland where cattle's grazing. These people bought into a golf course community, paid a premium for the golf
course. Uh property that sits on the golf courses and was expected to go that way. All we're looking for them to do is just do the right thing, is maintaining the grass for a certain level. Maybe they work something out down the road. That'll be up to them. It's not up to us to step into it. Um I did try earlier, but Uh there wasn't any uh any positivity there. It wasn't like plantation palms where they came together and and and made something work. Uh it was just a a different uh construct. So this, you know Multi millionaires can do whatever they want to go do. He's
doing what he wants to do. Uh I do know that it was probably ten years ago. that a previous owner of the property that she that he has bought beside this golf course did come before them. They couldn't quite work out terms, but it's not to say that couldn't happen if they came back again to the table and maybe this uh We'll make that even happen. But uh it's it is a different situation. And I'll wait for public comment for anything further. Thank you.
Jack Mariano
Thank you, Commissioner Mariano. And I I just want to re-eight one thing to everybody and making sure we know this is a countywide ordinance. So um, Mr. Stein setter, this isn't, you know, this isn't focused on one specific area. I just want to make sure we're all on the same page that in the public's Of listening is that um
In essence, this is really easy to do because just because of one property, right? We're gonna make sure that we understand this is the county wide ordinance. Mr. Stein's night.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
That's correct. It's countywide ordinance. It applies to anything that would be that would meet the definition of improved property under under this ordinance.
Kathryn Starkey
Uh Mr. Sysider. Question on that?
Are there any other properties that come to mind that need this kind of attention? I'm just curious.
I I because I think now the DOT is gonna have to cut their swales and and their um are they exempt? DOT exempt?
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Yes, as we discussed at the last hearing, those sorts of things are exempt from the definition of improvement.
Kathryn Starkey
And the county and the county's exempt as well?
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Those sorts of th th there's a definition of improved property and those things that are listed as exempt, whether it they're the county, whether they're county, state, or otherwise are From the ordinance and they don't the ordinance doesn't apply to it.
Kathryn Starkey
And um I wanted to address the snakes and rats and things um because People pay a premium to back up to our wealth fields. That are um full of wildlife, coyote, snakes, wild pigs, all kinds of things. And and um Thank goodness they're not asking the water management district to uh To clear it so there aren't any animals running around. But again, I don't think this is a good idea
at all.
Jack Mariano
Um okay. Madam Clerk, can we go ahead and um take public comment at this time?
Madam Clerk
Yes, sir. We have two callers who had registered, but only one on the line to speak. Mr. John Sybart. Oh.
Jack Mariano
Go ahead and put 'em all on.
Paula Baracaldo
Good afternoon. Please state your name and address for the record and start your comment.
John Sybart
Hello, my name is John Sybart. My wife and I live at [address removed]. Yeah, I'd say which is part of the estates Community. Uh again, I've I've made a few phone calls and sent emails. Uh our concerns here There's the closed golf course. And we've had this discussion. As I noted uh many times the the big concern right now is that
The The course is is really overgrown. There's rodents which I have evidence uh with both pictures and damage that was done to a neighbor's pool heater. And I think this is just the beginning. We're just going into July It's gonna be a lot of rain over the summer. I'm really hoping that an ordinance change would help us uh with the overgrown course. And
it's not just the estates There's over a thousand single family homes, which includes Beacon Point, the Estates, Barrington Woods, Millwood Village, and Fairway yolks. Yeah that's over a thousand. Thousand homes once again. Please. The ordinance is on the table. Please require the owner of the golf course to mow when the height is over eight inches. This has been going on
for a year. And his attempt at growing trees is is was a really bad move on his part. And it's created a big mess. So I'm asking you as a resident taxpayer And uh community member to please approve Bad ordinance. Thank you very much.
Jack Mariano
All right. Thank you, sir. And we do not have anybody else online, Madam Clerk?
Madam Clerk
No sir, but we have two emails to be read into the record.
Jack Mariano
All right, please go ahead.
Madam Clerk
Both are from Ms. Diane Kobernick. Commissioners, as you are aware, I
Jack Mariano
have been speaking in since
Madam Clerk
the first time.
Jack Mariano
Two emails on one item. Mr. Stefan.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
If she can get it get through it in three in three minutes.
Jack Mariano
Okay. Yeah, we can't go three minutes in three minutes. So
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Well, yeah, I think I think they were received at two different meetings, but but I'd go ahead and read what you can in three minutes.
Madam Clerk
One
Unidentified speakerVoice A
is
Madam Clerk
dated uh June 15th and the other's dated June twenty-seventh. So the first email is, as you are aware, I've been speaking and sending you many emails regarding the issue of Chapter 42 long before you brought this issue to forefront. My September 23rd, 2018 letter to all county commissioners detailed the county code violations under Chapter 42. The letter also detailed the Florida Statute 125.69, which is available to the county on how to deal with repeat offenders and the stricter fines allowable. I understand that some county commissioners are worried
about the cost. the county may incur if an irresponsible owner does not abide by the county code. However, I would like to remind you that in the existing approved ordinance section Chapter 42-1, Clause 3, the following is the actual language. The notice shall inform the owner that if the condition is not corrected within 14 calendar days of the date of posting, the offending condition will be corrected by the county or an independent contractor and the cost thereof Plus a penalty, administrative cost, interest, and attorney fee shall be assessed as a lien against
the lands. Section ch uh section chapter 42-1, clause five, the following is the actual language. Imposition of a lien if a any landowner to whom a demand or order has been directed fails to correct an offending condition within the applicable time period provided in subsection three, the Board of County Commissioners, through its designee, is authorized to correct the offending condition and by resolution to assess a lien on behalf of the county. The actual cost of correcting the offending conditions plus a penalty of the amount equal to the cost of or
$75, which is greater, plus administrative cost including necessary expenses for investigation of the complaint, preparation, filing, and recording of the assessment lien and legal expenses incident thereto, plus interest plus reasonable attorney fee shall be assessed against such land. The lien shall be a special assessment lien against the property and shall be given the same priority with the lien of the county at Valorum Cat taxes and will be superior in priority to all other liens, encumbrances, titles, and claims in to or against the lands involved and shall remain a
lien until paid. It appears the county has a viable solution. Should the county need to correct a violation, I believe that. One, any violator should be made completely aware of the quant consequences of not correcting the violation. The county actually follows through with what is already in their arsenal of dealing. With the violators, three, an unpaid um ad valorem tax is subject to the county foreclosing on a property for unpaid taxes. Four foreclosures of these troubled properties is available to the county
or the property owner actually pays for the costs. Five, if the property owner does not pay the ad valorem tax and the county needs to foreclose, the county would then Own the property and have the ability to provide the subdivision with a protected green space for the benefit of the subdivision. In conclusion, The county is a win is in a win-win position. If the owner does not mean the property, the county should make the corrective action and file a lien. After that, one of two things will happen. One, the owner will pay the lien or an existing lien owner will pay it to protect the position either way it gets paid.
Or two, nobody pays the lien and the county forecloses and owns the property for free.
That was just the first email.
Jack Mariano
Okay, is is there time left?
Unidentified speakerVoice A
No, that was a three minute buzzer. Okay, thank
Jack Mariano
you. Um back to the board.
Kathryn Starkey
I have a question on that, um based on that letter.
Jack Mariano
Commissioner Starkey.
Kathryn Starkey
Yeah, um, uh Mr. Sinsider, Mr. Biles, um, have we had to step in and take care of any property when the homes or whatever fell into disrepair?
Tampa Bay Times
Hello? Yeah, that'd be Mr. Sniper's question.
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Yeah. We we do we do overgrown lot maintenance all the time, Commissioner.
Kathryn Starkey
Yes. Have we foreclosed on a house because they had uncut grass?
Unidentified speakerVoice A
Uh I am not aware that we have we have gone through the foreclosure process on any of the these outstanding liens, with the possible exception of the Sutherland property.
Kathryn Starkey
So if we um if we do have to step in and take care of property. Are we going to foreclose on it or are we allowed to pick and choose which properties we foreclose upon? Or do we have to do them all?
Unidentified speakerVoice A
That would be up to the board's direction to the county attorney.
Kathryn Starkey
That was my question.
Jack Mariano
Okay. Um this
Jack Mariano
one for him and Jack Mariano.
Jack Mariano
Mr. Mariano.
Jack Mariano
Um when I look at the list that we're given for public comment, um from this morning. It it shows in the ver we're supposed to have some public comment by phone by a Elizabeth Kickatz for the Lynx golf course, but she didn't speak for some reason.
Didn't we call it in? Okay. And then there was another one by Thomas Carroll, uh talking about the same thing was scheduled for this afternoon. I guess he didn't call in either. And there were I think they feel everyone looks at the list, there was a
Judith Parker.
There was William and Mary Ellen Henderson and Kendratino, Nancy Pelzer. Uh Phyllis Cox. Karen Crow. B. Salerno. Susan Croft. Nancy and Larry Peter. And Neil and Cindy Minahan. And I and I know we've got a lot of other emails from people through the week, uh past couple of weeks. And I had met with the associations, all
five associations, with all their elected board members, and they all signed a letter and sent a petition in. I didn't see that anywhere in the record, but uh they sent a letter in saying that they w did want to see this ordinance go through. Uh these people have been through a lot for a whole year. Um as I said, I tried to step in early to try to make something happen like you know Commissioner We were successful at Plantation Palms but uh to whatever the reasons going on. Uh Seminole County's had great success. Um long-standing commission was also a past
senator and representative for that area. Um When I was asking for help he came up with the idea. Uh say Winter Haven's had great success with it. You know, we had talked with the agricultural community. We put them at ease where they're comfortable with this. Same thing with the development community. So primarily it's gonna do a lot of great things for this area. Uh these homes have probably lost what would have been at least thirty thousand value just from what the owner of the property told me from what one transaction. So It is protecting
the neighborhood. Uh It is quality of life that's out there. The rats, the snakes, et cetera. Um at a golf course you don't get nearly what they're getting in right now. So we're actually gonna do the right thing for the neighborhood. So um I'll wait for further public comment from other my other commissioners first.
Jack Mariano
Thank you, Mr. Bayonet. Commissioner Weightman, do you have anything?
Mike Wells
No, I don't. I mean, I I've been up there. I've met with the residents again. I uh as Commissioner Starkey said, I I don't know who the owner is. I've never heard from him or her. Um which I'm kind of surprised, but It is what it is, but I know it's a mess. I'm I've seen it. Um It's looks kinda like quite frankly, how golf harbors does in some areas and uh the the golf course that we own. that we're maintaining. Obviously we're gonna have to maintain more of it, but I do agree that something has to be done up there. And I'm really disappointed that this owner hasn't come forward to
have a conversation with us. So if this is what it takes to have him do that. I mean. Yeah, I'm okay with it. As long as you've met with the agri community and and I have not, but you're telling me they're good with it, then I'm okay with it.
Jack Mariano
Yeah. Hmm.
Yeah approval P3. I have a motion for approval P P3. Second. I have a second. Madam Clerk, please call the role.
Madam Clerk
District three, Commissioner Starkey. Nay, it's not the right solution.
District four, Commissioner Weightman. District five, Commissioner Mariano. Aye. District two, Chairman More.
Jack Mariano
I motion passes three one.
Tampa Bay Times
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