Ocoee considers dissolving code enforcement board

A controversial decision made by Ocoee’s volunteer-based Code Enforcement Board on Oct. 25 may lead to the dissolution of the board completely.

The final minutes of the Nov. 1 City Commission meeting were filled with ample discussion regarding the CEB’s decision — a motion that passed 4-2 and ignored the legal advice presented by a city attorney. The motion granted Jim Sills, the owner of property located at 1 Taylor St., until Aug. 31, 2018, to bring his lot into compliance with proper zoning standards.

City records show the lot in question, designated as light industrial zoning, has been used for outdoor storage for almost an entire 32 years since Sills bought the property in 1984. The problem is such zoning does not permit outdoor storage, and a recent citizen complaint brought the matter to the CEB’s attention.

But Sills believed the city is partially to blame for not noticing before that his use of the property did not conform to zoning standards, particularly after the city granted him a fence permit in 1988.

“So somewhere along the line, the city is at fault,” Sills said during the CEB meeting. 

Sills entered a lease agreement for the property with a fiber optics company that stores its equipment and material on the lot that does not expire until August 2018. However, as per standard regulations and city staff’s recommendation, property owners with code violations regarding the nonconforming use of property are usually given a maximum of 30 days to clean up the lot. 

For Sills to be given 22 months was out of the norm, and the decision prompted CEB member Michael Hopper, who staunchly opposed giving Sills more than 30 days, to leave the chambers after providing a verbal resignation.

“It needs to be treated as a violation,” Hopper said before the motion passed. “I don’t care how long it is, because like I said earlier, thank God the city don’t go back 32 years and want to bill him for 32 years of being in violation. ... That’s not a bad deal.”

Ocoee commissioners were appalled by the decision. City Attorney Scott Cookson presented their options for dealing with the consequences of the decision. One option discussed was to disband the CEB entirely and replace it with a special magistrate. The alternative option would be to replace certain noncomplying members of the CEB and go through an appeal process via the circuit court to reverse the decision. However, the appeal process would cost the city an estimated $50,000 and take about a year.

“I love to see citizens involved, but that was a mockery of code enforcement what they did that night,” Mayor Rusty Johnson said. “They should have never done that. ... But I don’t want to spend $50,000 to $60,000 going though this process. So what we got to do is look at what to do to get it fixed. … Because what they (the CEB) did is tell us to go jump in the creek as the board up here and the city.”

Given the breach in trust, commissioners voted 4-1 on Nov. 1 to suspend the next CEB meeting until the following Dec. 6 city commission meeting. 

Ralph Jones, the administrator of the code of enforcement department expressed his thoughts on the issue of their consideration to replace the CEB with a special magistrate. He believed the CEB, which is made up of residents, provides better representation and that a better alternative would be to simply replace the board members who are not doing their job. 

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected].