Should Code Enforcement become Proactive?

I think if that happens, we'll be living in a police state!

Currently Walton County Code Enforcement works in a reactive mode. This requires an actual complaint from someone to cause any action from the county.

At a recent BCC meeting CM and SC starting talking about a change in policy to a proactive enforcement board. This would mean the county would be divided into zones and code officers would patrol these areas looking for code violations and working with people to bring their properties into compliance.

I am curious as to people's opinions on such a change. It will be discussed next Tuesday at the BCC meeting.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but didn't Santa Rosa County do this and now they are having to lay off the majority of people hired after Ivan

I'm not 100% sure about this, but didn't Santa Rosa County do this and now they are having to lay off the majority of people hired after Ivan

Santa Rosa did do it. The head of the WC Code Enforcement use to work in Santa Rosa County and told me that they had done this.

Santa Rosa did do it. The head of the WC Code Enforcement use to work in Santa Rosa County and told me that they had done this.

I read a report a few weeks ago that they are trimming back their numbers by around eleven jobs.........hmmmmmmmmmmmm:scratch:

IMO this proposal ties in with the new scenic corridor designation. More Government, less diversity. New S.C. regulations will need enforcement to keep grant $$ coming in.

What are the details? What will thry be looling for?

Yeah, I don't want our tax dollars paying for gas so they can spend all day cruising the county looking for kid's lemonade stands!

What good are laws if they aren't going to be enforced? You don't see the Sheriff's Deputies sitting around a table at the Sheriff's Station, waiting for calls. They are out patrolling the streets.

One of the specific examples of this which was brought up at the last BCC mtg was the issue of the signs being placed all over the Right of Way. The comment was made that Code Enforcement drives by all of the signs everyday, and don't do anything about removing them, unless someone calls in a complaint. There are other needs for Code Enforcement to at least patrol to some degree. No one is requesting a police state. I can think of plenty of examples of Code Violations which the Code Enforcement never sees when they are complaint driven only. One day, you may buy a house which is settling into the wetlands on which it was illegally built, and you will wonder why, thinking that the County wouldn't allow people do illegally fill in wetlands to build a house.

What good are laws if they aren't going to be enforced? You don't see the Sheriff's Deputies sitting around a table at the Sheriff's Station, waiting for calls. They are out patrolling the streets.

One of the specific examples of this which was brought up at the last BCC mtg was the issue of the signs being placed all over the Right of Way. The comment was made that Code Enforcement drives by all of the signs everyday, and don't do anything about removing them, unless someone calls in a complaint. There are other needs for Code Enforcement to at least patrol to some degree. No one is requesting a police state. I can think of plenty of examples of Code Violations which the Code Enforcement never sees when they are complaint driven only. One day, you may buy a house which is settling into the wetlands on which it was illegally built, and you will wonder why, thinking that the County wouldn't allow people do illegally fill in wetlands to build a house.

One problem with that scenario, a house that's illegally built doesn't get a C/O, and therefore no electricity!

Currently Walton County Code Enforcement works in a reactive mode. This requires an actual complaint from someone to cause any action from the county.

At a recent BCC meeting CM and SC starting talking about a change in policy to a proactive enforcement board. This would mean the county would be divided into zones and code officers would patrol these areas looking for code violations and working with people to bring their properties into compliance.

I am curious as to people's opinions on such a change. It will be discussed next Tuesday at the BCC meeting.

And for this reactive approach they needed those expensive trucks -- why?

Santa Rosa did do it. The head of the WC Code Enforcement use to work in Santa Rosa County and told me that they had done this.

I believe he (Kevin) was a deputy sheriff in Santa Rosa County.

And for this reactive approach they needed those expensive trucks -- why?

Need big trucks for the new lettering. State of South Walton Scenic Corridor Police Department.:funn:

I believe he (Kevin) was a deputy sheriff in Santa Rosa County.

Maybe but he also did code enforcement. I thought his law enforcement experience was in Pensacola.

What good are laws if they aren't going to be enforced? You don't see the Sheriff's Deputies sitting around a table at the Sheriff's Station, waiting for calls. They are out patrolling the streets.

I will start another thread on that later.

Okay two issues that I constantly hear about code enforcement that I think need to be addressed.

The snipe signs are a bit ridiculous. They should pick up what they can, and if they can track down the owner of the sign then I see no problem with citing them. But I am figuring that someone would want some sort of exemption built into the code for yard sales, art festivals, things of that nature. Also, since the county makes frequent use of the signs to advertise rec programs, what about them? Currently they are exempt, but leading by example is a good thing, no?

The other thing is weekends and holidays. I really feel that something should be done about the off days of the government. It is quite obvious that the marketers have learned what days it is safe to line the streets with rainbow flags, banners, and signs.

But for code officers to drive around and stop you and talk about the color of your building, the height of your fence, did you get a permit for that temporary storage trailer, things of that nature, I think is a bit much. Still not near as bad once you cross the bay. The 'failure to maintain' citations that could be issued in nowal would keep the whole lot of them busy for years. And if you cite one, you would have to do them all in the area to make sure no one claims selective enforcement.

Maybe but he also did code enforcement. I thought his law enforcement experience was in Pensacola.

You are correct. He was an officer in Pensacola. In my dealings with Kevin he has always been very professional. I think he would do a fine job of managing a pro active dept. He is not the police state type at all. He's more in to education vs enforcement.

The challenge for code enforcement is this - regardless of whether they are proactive or waiting for a complaint, they are reacting to a "done deed" .

A spec house was built a couple of streets over from me last year. First, they clear-cut (actually bulldozed) the lot. Then, they brought in a bunch of brown fill sand. Someone filed a complaint, there was a stop-work order, but ultimately they didn't change a single thing.

I don't know how you solve this.



Unrelated to realistic challenges facing code enforcement, rant starts.

Personally, I'm all for proactive. The laws are laws. If we don't enforce the laws we've got, we'll look like Miami in 10 years. If you don't like the laws, get them changed.

My former neighborhood in Memphis was designated a "National Historic District" in 1984. Far from being a problem, the additional restrictions helped property values, made the neighborhood desirable (even in the current downturn sales there have held up), and built a sense of belonging to all the residents. The polar opposite of the "every man for himself" attitude that develops when personal property rights trump all. The most expensive property is typically in SoWal is in Seaside, Rosemary, Watercolor, Alys, etc. where, you've guessed it, they have.....

End of rant.

Big difference between driving past something that is in violation and trolling the area for violations. I don't think that being completely reactionary is a good thing, but I also don't want them to have to fill a quota of violations each month to justify their expenses.

They seriously don't act on violations that they see, but haven't received complaints on? That's pretty damn stupid IMO!

Is this idea of being proactive coming up because they want to add personnel or can't justify current staffing (and unnecessary equipment like 4x4 trucks)?

I will start another thread on that later.

Okay two issues that I constantly hear about code enforcement that I think need to be addressed.

The snipe signs are a bit ridiculous. They should pick up what they can, and if they can track down the owner of the sign then I see no problem with citing them. But I am figuring that someone would want some sort of exemption built into the code for yard sales, art festivals, things of that nature. Also, since the county makes frequent use of the signs to advertise rec programs, what about them? Currently they are exempt, but leading by example is a good thing, no?

The other thing is weekends and holidays. I really feel that something should be done about the off days of the government. It is quite obvious that the marketers have learned what days it is safe to line the streets with rainbow flags, banners, and signs.

But for code officers to drive around and stop you and talk about the color of your building, the height of your fence, did you get a permit for that temporary storage trailer, things of that nature, I think is a bit much. Still not near as bad once you cross the bay. The 'failure to maintain' citations that could be issued in nowal would keep the whole lot of them busy for years. And if you cite one, you would have to do them all in the area to make sure no one claims selective enforcement.

As for yard sales, there is not a County ordinance against having a sign in your yard. Birthday parties, open houses, yard sales, etc, typically are held on weekends. Some people place directional signs for those just prior to the event and then, remove them immediately afterward. Maybe that should be addressed. Since Code Enforcement is on-call during the weekends, unless that, too changes, there would be no one enforcing that law during the weekends. Maybe that is an easy enough answer to solve that question. Did you notice all the southwaltonsingles.com signs which sprouted all over the right of way on last Friday, just after Code Enforcement clocked out for the Holiday weekend? FireSale.com signs went up today. I almost backed up to run it over. It is litter. So is a junk car parked on the side of the road. For sale autos parked on the hwy can also get out of hand. Why shouldn't Code Enforcement be able to handle those when they see them? For those who are so against Code Enforcement doing their job, maybe we should change the name of that County office to "Code-Enforcement-Upon-Request-Only."

No one said that they need to drive around and check for house color, but if a permit is needed to build a house, add a deck, etc, it should be posted. Fences are easy enough to spot and easy enough to tell if something is well out of whack, like a six foot tall fence around the front of the property on a corner lot, blocking the field of view for traffic. Also easy to spot would be the people who like to bulldoze a path through wetlands to start filling it for a driveway. The house may need a CO to be built, but that doesn't mean that the house was legally built, FloridaGirl, on illegally filled wetlands.

I view it like I view the cops. They give you a break if you are going slightly over the speed limit. Code Enforcement wouldn't need to get out their tape measure every time they drive by someone building a fence. The obvious breaches of the law should be dealt with accordingly.

I'll throw out another example question for you. Should the Health Department conduct inspections of restaurants only after someone reports getting sick?

I'll add one other thing. If you don't like the laws, change the laws. Laws need to be well-thought and enforceable. Without enforcement, we really don't need to waste money on the people who make the laws.

scooterbug, this issue came up at the last BCC meeting because Comm. Meadows said that she was getting too many complaints of Code violations. She thought if Code Enforcement was being somewhat more proactive, rather than complaint driven only, fewer people would have to call her office asking her to take care of the violations. At that same meeting, Commissioners asked for Code Enforcement to provide the BCC with their policy on enforcing the County Codes, which is to be presented at Tuesday's BCC meeting.

scooterbug, this issue came up at the last BCC meeting because Comm. Meadows said that she was getting too many complaints of Code violations. She thought if Code Enforcement was being somewhat more proactive, rather than complaint driven only, fewer people would have to call her office asking her to take care of the violations. At that same meeting, Commissioners asked for Code Enforcement to provide the BCC with their policy on enforcing the County Codes, which is to be presented at Tuesday's BCC meeting.

Here is the memo that has been sent to the BCC.

I personally think that it is going to take a major enlargement of the department if this change is implemented. Which means a lot more trucks.

Right now, I guess it is because they try so hard to give people time to correct violations, is the reason, but the code cases we heard Thursday night were from March and July of 07.

I'm all for proactive code enforcement to keep people honest that otherwise might take advantage of others good faith. People taking shortcuts to build and sell homes to people who have no basic understanding of what it takes to build a home that will resist a storm should ba a major crime. We will see future hurricanes come through this area and there are going to be homes that don't hold up due to poor construction. There are going to be flooded homes because the proper drainage the property needed was never properly installed and people are going to loose gobs of money. Insurance companies are going to walk away from a claim if they can "CSI" that the place was somehow not built to code. Many innocent people will get screwed.
Of course, not everyone builds like this. If there was some type of random compliance check available, the shortcuts would be reduced for fear of being caught.
My two cents worth.

Unfortunately some of the worst code violators are just old time wackos.
Filing public complaints against them can lead to very hostile confrontations or worse.
Some neighbors who are adversely affected don't speak up because of the risk involved.
Jerks can start fires etc. You do not want these people to know who you are.
But you still deserve protection under the law.

Let's say your neighbors house caught on fire because he was cooking crack in the kitchen.
Do you want to go on record complaining about the six junk cars in his front yard.
Especially if just six months before this guys next door neighbors woods was set ablaze.

Cindy Meadows has been very helpful in just such a situation.
No more personnel or trucks will be needed.
Proactive enforcement will help protect everyone's property.

Comments from the peanut gallery.....

I do not currently live in SoWal (in Texas), but Furthur makes a good point. My neighbor was at one point keeping pigs in his garage, and we live in the middle of town where that is definitely not allowed (and not a humane situation either). He also re-graded his driveway, causing my side yard to drainage issues where there were none previously. Would I report him? No way - he's a nut! And probably heavily armed.

Can you see now why I would love to relocate?

Just my opinion, I would vote for letting the officials do their job. I'm not one to criticize someone for not having the correct mailbox or whatever, but the alternatives can be unpleasant. Or even hazardous, as SmilingJoe mentioned.

In my town, volunteer vigilanties take care of the "proactive enforcement". They hop out of nowhere from their cars and spend their days reporting on and taking photos of illegal yard sale signs, people whose wheels touch the line of handicapped parking places etc. They harassed a girl I knew for [they thought] improperly using someone else's hangtag, until she removed her wig and showed them she was a cancer patient in chemotherapy. Even though I properly registered my yard sale last year and used the proper signs in the proper places, the anxiety over a several hundred dollar fine if they weren't just right was really not worth it. Like I said, I would support "code patrol" that was at least official
in my town.

Comments from the peanut gallery.....

I do not currently live in SoWal (in Texas), but Furthur makes a good point. My neighbor was at one point keeping pigs in his garage, and we live in the middle of town where that is definitely not allowed (and not a humane situation either). He also re-graded his driveway, causing my side yard to drainage issues where there were none previously. Would I report him? No way - he's a nut! And probably heavily armed.

Can you see now why I would love to relocate?

Just my opinion, I would vote for letting the officials do their job. I'm not one to criticize someone for not having the correct mailbox or whatever, but the alternatives can be unpleasant. Or even hazardous, as SmilingJoe mentioned.

In my town, volunteer vigilanties take care of the "proactive enforcement". They hop out of nowhere from their cars and spend their days reporting on and taking photos of illegal yard sale signs, people whose wheels touch the line of handicapped parking places etc. They harassed a girl I knew for [they thought] improperly using someone else's hangtag, until she removed her wig and showed them she was a cancer patient in chemotherapy. Even though I properly registered my yard sale last year and used the proper signs in the proper places, the anxiety over a several hundred dollar fine if they weren't just right was really not worth it. Like I said, I would support "code patrol" that was at least official
in my town.

Anonymously report the pig farmer to the vigilantes. Let them duke it out.