In agreement with Phil Buchanan
To the editor:
I agree with Phil Buchanan’s opinion of Dave Crabtree’s presentation to the members of the Greater Pine Island Civic Association. I was a code enforcement officer for a time 10 years ago. A code was proposed by our elected body and usually is the result of a complaint from a minority of the population of a county, musicality, etc. Or the governing body adopts a national property maintenance code that covers everything. The code official enforces the parts of the code that is prudent for his jurisdiction. I resigned as a code enforce officer, because I was being used as a tool for people out to get someone not just neighbors. That is not the intent of the code. The code is designed to maintain health, welfare and safety for the general public, not to harass the public. When a complaint is received, the code enforcement officer should contact the person that may be in violation and give them a copy of the code section that they are in violation of and time to comply. The enforcement officer’s job is to bring about compliance to a violation, that can be done without a summons; a summons is the last resort that cam be court appearance. Zoning laws are land use and high grass is property maintenance. When I had a light complaint, I got a light meter and measured the luminance at the property line before a violation was issued.
I became a resident of St. James City because of the location and the friendly people that live here and I agree, that anything can be worked out without code enforcement, just communicate.
A note to remember is that all Lee County employees are public employees and they are overseen by the Lee County Board of Commissioners that are elected by us.
Larry Nixon
St. James City