Washington Park Neighborhood Preservation and Enhancement Dist.

Lauderdale Advisory Board to Tackle Code Issues

Jan 04, 2003

Lauderdale advisory board to tackle code issues

By Brittany Wallman
Staff writer
Posted January 3 2003

FORT LAUDERDALE ?· Code enforcement issues that have been bugging city residents for years will be tackled by a new advisory board set up by the City Commission.

The board will look into new rules, including a possible licensure program for rental units that would require them to be inspected periodically. The board also will consider convenience stores and boarded-up homes.











Ideas on what to take up first came from Commissioner Carlton Moore's committee in District III, the northwest part of Fort Lauderdale, which worked for four months to identify loopholes in the code laws that need to be closed.

The entire City Commission agreed recently to expand the concept to a citywide advisory board, with public meetings.

"We have a thick book of ordinances we've tried to put into place to work from," said Moore, "and we've just got, let me say, unsatisfied customers."

Among the eternal problems in Moore's district, he said, are convenience stores that are open 24 hours and are a nuisance to their residential neighbors.

"It's giving me gray hair," said Moore.

State laws that require double staffing and other security measures at convenience stores operating during the night don't apply to family-run operations, Moore said. So the "mom-and-pop" neighborhood stores need to be addressed by the city, he said. People linger around them, drinking alcohol, selling drugs or prostituting themselves, Moore said.

"It gives the individual who is not from your community a reason to linger around your home, and it's just not fair," said Moore. "... It allows a number of people who don't belong in your neighborhood to be there."

The committee also will take up a proposal to issue licenses for rental units. The idea is to require any rental unit to be inspected annually, to protect tenants whose landlords fail to maintain the property.

"That's probably going to be the most controversial," said Moore. But "it's for the people. We're not trying to do anything other than empowering people to have a decent place to live."

Mayor Jim Naugle thinks that fire inspectors, who already look at rentals with more than three units, should refer any building code matters to the Building Department.

"I don't think we should have duplications in government," said Naugle. "Do you want to get a second fleet of cars and a second set of computers for checking other things, or do you want to go after the slumlords who are affecting the quality of life and get tough with them?"

Moore commended the original code committee, whose members volunteered their time to identify the worst continual violations. Among their recommendations for changing the code:

Define "reasonable time" for fixing violations.

Remove references to "occupied" housing that allow violators to simply evict tenants to avoid complying.

Find a way to force "mom-and-pop" convenience stores to comply with the safety and security requirements other convenience stores adhere to.

See if a special master would be more efficient than the code board in dealing with violations.

Create a Neighborhood Nuisance Board to address structures that remain boarded up for six months or more.

In other action, city commissioners at their Dec. 10 meeting:

Approved a deal with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, without competitive bidding, to review for $50,000 an environmental impact statement about a proposed runway extension at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Agreed to add more downtown and Community Redevelopment Agency representatives to the city's Urban Design Core Steering Committee, to respond to the Downtown Development Authority's concerns that it was underrepresented. The committee advises the city on its pending Downtown Master Plan.

Reappointed Henry Latimer of Greenberg Traurig as special legal counsel for the city, at a raise to $250 an hour from $170.

Appointed members to a new Code Advisory Committee to take up code enforcement issues.

Extended a policy supplementing military pay for city employees who are reservists and are called to active duty because of terrorist attacks. The measure brings employees' pay, including military pay, to their total salary when they were called up.

Agreed to spend $439,022 on improvements to George English Park.

Agreed to put up $45,000 for a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration on Jan. 20, which will be reimbursed after fund raising. The city is sponsoring this event for the first time.

Accepted a $150,000 state grant to help Haitian refugees' relationship with the government and law enforcement.

Agreed to reschedule the Jan. 21 City Commission meeting to Jan. 22.

Added a new job position to the Fire Department: domestic preparedness and emergency management coordinator.

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.