Sweep Cites Hundreds Of Violations

A two-day neighborhood sweep by Tampa code enforcement inspectors produced more than 300 new cases involving more than 500 violations.

Most violations were for trash, overgrown vegetation and inoperable vehicles, said code enforcement inspector Mike Williams. And some building owners were cited for structural problems.

The sweep on Feb. 16 and 17 was the first for the V.M. Ybor neighborhood in about two years. Code enforcement director Jake Slater said residents' complaints prompted city leaders to take action.

Most property owners cited by the inspectors will receive letters warning them to clean up or repair property, or else appear before a hearing master or the code enforcement board. Civil citations, which are more serious, were issued for four properties, mostly involving repeat offenses for overgrowth and trash, Williams said.

City council members last year approved a mechanism to impose the civil citations, similar to parking tickets, in cases involving "irreparable" or "irreversible" violations such as chopping down a protected tree. Repeat violators also can be issued citations which are hand-delivered or posted on the property and recorded with the court.

Streets included in the sweep were between Nebraska Avenue and 15th Street, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Interstate 4. About 10 inspectors participated.

"We're really having a problem with the foreclosures," Slater said. "People are walking away from their homes. It's frightening."

The latest violations are in addition to 230 existing open cases involving 525 violations in the area where last week's sweep took place.

Throughout Tampa there are about 1,800 completed foreclosures. But Slater said many more homes are headed to foreclosure and are vacant.

One inspector said he comes across at least one new vacancy every day.

In most cases, owners are responsible for securing their property. But occasionally city workers board up structures for public safety. The city is searching for more effective methods than plywood, Slater said.

Inspectors say plywood often is like a welcome card for vagrants or thieves looking for vacant houses to live in or from which to scavenge items such as copper wiring.

A new option to keep intruders out of a vacant structure is modular steel-plated doors and window guards.

For the first time last week, Slater and his inspectors spotted a bank-foreclosed vacant house, at 3404 N. 11th St., with mattresses and trash on the front sidewalk. Residents had been evicted a few days earlier.

But the house was secured with these new materials.

"It's like a vault," Slater said.