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01-17-2006 Regular Meeting• MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 The regular meeting of the Code Enforcement Board was called to order on Tuesday, January 17, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. Members attending were James Purvis, Vice-Chairman, A.D. VanDeMark, Terry Felder, Bill Banzhaf, and James Davern. Also attending were Betty McMinamen, Code Enforcement Officer, Jim Hitt, Planning and Zoning Director, Yvette Brown, City Attorney, and Joy Thys, Code Enforcement Clerk. Joe Janusiak was absent. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The minutes from the Code Enforcement Board meeting of November 15, 2005 were approved as written. Jim Purvis gave the floor to Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen. NEW BUSINESS CASE NO. 05-246 Darlene L. Dunnigan & Christina P. Dunnigan 679 Anderson Street. Clermont, FL 34711 LOCATION OF VIOLATION: 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL 34711 VIOLATION: City of Clermont Code of Ordinances No. 86-C, Chapter 38, Section 38-4. Unlawful Parking of Recreational Vehicle. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen showed several pictures of the Respondents camping trailer parked in front of the house and not presently located behind the building setbacks as required by ordinance. Mr. Charles Dunnigan of 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL was sworn in and stated he feels this ordnance not up to date as people now own more recreational vehicles than in the past and the ordinance should be more lenient in where people can place them. He also stated he was he measured his setbacks and feels he was within the required setbacks. • • ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 Jim Hitt, Planning and Zoning Director, was sworn in and produced a GIF map showing the recreational vehicle in clear violation of being in the front setbacks of his property. Mr. Hitt stated that a request for a variance was for hardship circumstances not created by ones self and the case for the recreational vehicle did not fall under that category. James Davem made a motion for a continuance for 30 days until a survey can be provided by the respondent and reviewed by the City of Clermont. A. D. VanDeMark seconded by the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of the continuance. Jim Purvis asked if the respondent would allow city officials to come upon his property for the purpose of measuring. The Respondent agreed to this condition. CASE NO. 05-247 Darlene L. Dunnigan & Christina P. Dunnigan 679 Anderson Street. Clermont, FL 34711 LOCATION OF VIOLATION: 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL 34711 VIOLATION: City of Clermont Code of Ordinances No. 232-C, Chapter 34, Section 34- 61. Unlawful Maintenance of Nuisances. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen showed pictures of the accumulation of weeds and tall grass in several areas. Also noted were concrete blocks, boards and three or more empty 5-gallon buckets, all in plain view o the street. Mr. Charles Dunnigan of 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL 34711 was sworn in and stated that he had picked up the trash since the pictures were taken on the morning of this meeting. James Davern moved to find the Respondent in violation of the cited City code; seconded by Bill Banzhaf. • 2 . • ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 James Davem moved to allow the Respondent until February 21, 2006 to comply or to be fined at the rate of $10.00 per day seconded by A. D. VanDeMark. The vote was unanimous for the time period and the amount of the fine. CASE NO. 05-248 Darlene L. Dunnigan & Christina P. Dunnigan 679 Anderson Street. Clermont, FL 34711 LOCATION OF VIOLATION: 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL 34711 VIOLATION: City of Clermont Code of Ordinances No. 36-C, Chapter 34, Section 34- 95. Unlawful Storage in Residential Areas. • Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen showed pictures of the Respondents brown van appearing to be full of assorted items with 2 or more flat tires, in high grass and weeds and in plain view of the street. Ms. McMinamen said compliance would be when the brown van has been repaired and properly registered with a license tag, or removed from the property unless completely stored within an enclosed building. Mr. Charles Dunnigan of 679 Anderson Street, Clermont, FL 34711 was sworn in and stated he was in the process of restoring the van. The van is registered in another state and he said it would take him a little time to get the van registered in Florida. The Respondent said he would get the van operable by licensing the van and inflating the tires. A. D. VanDeMark made a motion to find the respondent in violation of the cited City Code; seconded by Bill Banzhaf. The vote was unanimous in favor of finding the Respondent in violation A. D. VanDeMark moved to allow the Respondent 30 days until February 21, 2006 to comply for to be fined at the rate of $10.00 per day; the vote was unanimous for the time period and amount of the fine. • 3 MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 CASE NO. 06-254 Gerald A. Jones 611 W. Highway 50/604 Chestnut Street. Clermont, FL 34711 LOCATION OF VIOLATION: 611 W. Highway 50/604 Chestnut Street, Clermont, FL 34711. VIOLATION: City of Clermont Code of Ordinances No. 281-C, Chapter 86, Section 146 (b). Failure to Fulfill Obligations of Conditional Use Permit Agreed to on April 11, 1989. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen was sworn in and stated this case consist of two pieces. First piece is zoned C-1 commercial on Highway 50 and the second is • residential use on Chestnut Street. Both lots were addressed in the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that was signed in April of 1989. All conditions of the CUP must be met in order for this case to be in compliance. Betty asked for the Respondent to be found in violation of the conditions of the CUP. Fred Morrison, a lawyer representing Mr. Gerald A. Jones, from Leesburg, FI, questioned why, after 17 years the City of Clermont was asking for a site plan. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen stated there was no site plan on record for this property which was one of the conditions for the CUP. Mr. Morrison then questioned item number 3 of the CUP stating no further expansion of the facility shall be permitted expect as approved by another CUP. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen stated by adding another hydraulic lift on the outside of the building, the use of the property had been changed. Mr. Jones added this left without a permit. Mr. Morrison questioned what evidence the city has to prove Mr. Jones is currently involved in the selling of automobiles. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen stated at the present time, he has several vehicles parked on his property with a "for sale" on them. Mr. Morrison then referred to item number 4 regarding landscaping, drainage, and parking plans and asked if the city had any record of this on file. Ms. McMinamen stated the city had not located one. Mr. Morrison wanted to know if the City of Clermont had issued an Occupational License to Mr. Jones since he had • 4 MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 occupied this property. Ms. McMinnamen stated she did not know if the Respondent received a license or not. In reference to item 5 of the CUP, Mr. Morrison said the property was to be used as a service station. Mr. Morrison stated that a service station normally sells tires and works on cars. Ms. McMinnamen said storage of tires and outside sales is not permitted. On item no. 7, there was once a house located on lots 18 and 19. The house burned several years ago and Mr. Jones tired on several occasions to get a site plan approved by the City of Clermont for professional offices and could never do so. Item 12 stated the dumpster for the property is to be located on private property only. Ms. McMinnamen showed pictures of the dumpster sitting in the right-of- way on Lake Avenue. Ms. McMinnamen said the dumpster is not far enough back and the city would need a survey to show this. Mr. Morrison claims is a remedial ordinance and wants the case dismissed due to ordinance number 86-146 (b). A. D. VanDeMark made a motion to deny the request of dismissal based on the evidence provided: the motion was seconded by James Davern. The vote was unanimous in favor or denying the request for dismissal. • Mr. Gerald A. Jones, of 611 W. Hwy 50 was sworn in and stated he has owned this property for over 30 years. It was a gas station when he brought the property, with a lift and gas tanks. He had the gas tanks removed in 1990. Since 1990 he has used the property for the same service. He claimed the only difference in the property now and when he bought the property is he put an addition on his property in which he received a building permit and a certificate of occupancy. There was nothing brought up at that time stating he did not have a site plan, he says he could not have obtained a building permit without one. Mr. Jones put in the hydraulic lift at the same time he had the gas tanks taken out. He did not obtain a building permit for the hydraulic lift, because it not a permanent structure. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen was asked if he needed a permit for the installation of the hydraulic lift and she stated that he did need a building permit. There was a dispute in 2001 with the former Planning and Zoning director, Barry Brown as to the actual zoning of Mr. Jones' property. Mr. Jones says he bought and paid for the property as C-1 on all four pieces. Mr. Hitt, the current Planning and Zoning Director and stated that all four lots are indeed zoned as C-1. Mr. Jones stated that when the bought the two lots on Chestnut Street, there was a house there and it has since burned. He then planned to build professional offices on the lots, but he could never get a site plan approved by the city. At the present time, he uses this property as an employee parking lot. He said that he would like to be able to move the outside storage in the back of the building if the City of Clermont would allow ,• ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 him to add onto his building. He claims he has commissioned several engineered drawings for improvement to his property and none of them were approved by the City of Clermont. He also claims the City of Clermont was responsible for the sale of his property not going through when someone wanted to buy his property and build a restaurant on it. Mr. Jones says the city told the prospective buyer the CUP traveled with the property. Mr. Morrison stated that item no. 5 of the CUP states the CUP is not transferable to any other business or person. Mr. Jones was asked if he had observed any representative from the city on his property measuring his setbacks, Mr. Jones stated that he had not seen anyone from the city there and they are no longer allowed on his property anyway. Mr. Jones says he has received an Occupational License every year from the City of Clermont for automotive repair. Mr. Morrison also said his client is doing the same thing on his property that he has been doing for the last 30 years. Mr. Jones stated that he has tried to work with the city and he has been before the Code Enforcement Board before. In May of 2001, a lien was filed on his property and he claims he did not receive proper notification of this. He claims he did not know of the lien until he went to a bank to borrow money and they informed him he owed the City of Clermont in excess of $410,000.00. Mr. Jones says since he was never notified • of the liens, the City of Clermont dropped the fines against him. Mr. Jones says he has cleaned off more than 13,000 pounds of scrap metal off his property in the recent weeks. He also stated that he has moved several items in just the last couple of days. Code Enforcement Council Yvette Brown, stated that she had some points of clarification to make regarding this case. Ms. Brown said there have been communications between Mr. Morrison and the City Attorney, Daniel Mantzaris. Mr. Mantzaris was asked to review this file and there were violations notices sent to Mr. Jones. There was an order placed by the previous code enforcement board. However, there were some administrative issues regarding this case and in an attempt to work with Mr. Jones, the city withdrew the order and the fines assessed. Vice-Chairman, James Purvis said he would give each board member five minutes to ask questions to Mr. Jones and Mr. Morrison. Board Member Terry Felder asked if there was an actual site plan for his location. Mr. Morrison said that Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen assumed there had never been one since she could not locate it. Mr. Morrison said that just because the city could not find one, did not mean that a site plan had never existed. Ms. Felder asked Mr. Morrison if he felt that Mr. Jones was not in compliance with any of the listed items of the CUP. Mr. Morrison went thru the 10 items in question in the CUP and Mr. Morrison said he felt his client was in compliance in all areas. • 6 • ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 Mr. Jones was questioned about the selling of cars on his property, He stated he had a representative from the State Board of Motor Vehicles tell him the guidelines for what he could and could not do regarding the selling of cars on his lot. Mr. Jones says he only sells cars on his lot as a courtesy to his customers and he makes no money from the sale of the cars. Mr. Jones claims he has about one to two cars for sale at any given time on his property. Ms. Brown asked Mr. Jones if he ever had or has at the present time, a survey for his property. Mr. Jones stated that he might have one and Ms. Brown said it might be a good idea if he gave the survey to Mr. Morrison. Ms. McMinnamen stated that the sale of cars is not a permitted use in C-1 property. Bill Banzhaf asked Planning and Zoning Director Jim Hitt the correct zoning of this property. Mr. Hitt said the correct zoning of this property is in fact C-1. Mr. Banzhaf feels each items on the CUP can be combined under one violation. He feels there are violations, but the wording of the violation notice is unclear. • A. D. VanDeMark suggested the Respondent apply for a new CUP. Mr. Morrison said that he and Mr. Jones have meet with city officials and attorney Dan Mantzaris on several occasions and have not been able to come to any mutual solutions regarding the CUP. Mr. Morrison said no changes to the property have been made since the adoption of the CUP that would require them filing a site plan. Mr. Morrison would like 180 days for his client to prepare engineered drawings for review by the City of Clermont. Code member James Purvis stated the current Code Enforcement Board is a volunteer group that has the welfare of citizens of Clermont as their first priority. Mr. Purvis also stated the current Code Enforcement Board is here to work with him to come to a resolution. Mr. Purvis feels that since the City of Clermont waived Mr. Jones' previous fines, the City of Clermont is showing good faith in trying to work with him. Mr. Purvis asked Mr. Jones if the would be willing to work with the City of Clermont in regards of the selling of vehicles at his business. Mr. Jones stated that staring on January 18, 2006 there would be no more cars for sell on his property. He asked for 240 days in order to prepare a site plan for the city, since approval takes a while. • 7 ,• ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 Mr. Purvis asked Mr. Jones what he needed to do in order to start making his property in compliance in regards to the CUP. Mr. Jones would like to have a 40 x 60 building on the back of his property to alleviate the outside storage. He is willing to provide trees, buffers, and water retention where needed. A. D. VanDeMark move to find the Respondent in violation of the cited City Codes: seconded by James Davern. The vote was unanimous in favor of find the Respondent in violation. Bill Banzhaf moved to allow the Respondent until June 20, 2006 to comply or be fined at the rate of $20.00 per day; seconded by James Davern. The vote was unanimous in favor of the time and amount of the fine. OLD BUSINESS CASE NO. 05-174 • Alex Butchkosky 801 W. Montrose Street Clermont, FL 34711 LOCATION OF VIOLATION: 801 W. Montrose Street, Clermont, FL 34711 VIOLATION: City of Clermont Code of Ordinances No.281-C, Chapter 86, Section 148. Failure to Fulfill Obligations of Conditional Use Permit Agreed to on October 29, 2003. Code Enforcement Officer Betty McMinamen stated this case complied and will not be heard. ,•~ ~ MINUTES CITY OF CLERMONT CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD January 17, 2006 FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER Code Member Bill Banzhaf announced this would be his last Code Enforcement meeting and that he would be running for City Council. Ms. Brown, Code Enforcement Council, stated elections would need to be held in February for Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Ms. Brown will confer with the city attorney to see if the two vacancies will be appointed before the February meeting. The board asked Ms. Brown if there had been any word on the appointment of a Special Master and she informed the board that she has not heard any word regarding this matter. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. n LJ Purvis, Vice-Chairman Attest: ~.,. J .y T ys, Co Enforcement Clerk • 9