- April 24, 2024
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RV parking is a common violation.
Wayne Grant
News Editor
This is part of an occasional series on city code enforcement, as the city looks at revising the scope of the Land Development Code.
Everyone gets their day in court. And in city code enforcement, everyone can avoid a day in court.
Once a month, a special magistrate holds session at City Hall to hear code violation cases. To avoid a fine and a case before the magistrate, a person who receives a notification of violation only needs to fix the problem in the time frame given.
“All we want is compliance,” Chris Mason, Neighborhood Improvement Department manager has said. Mason took over the department earlier this year after the retirement of Joanne Naumann.
If the person does not correct the violation in the time span, a fine is issued and a date is set with a special magistrate at the next regular session. Currently, sessions are held once per month. The person has the option of appearing before the magistrate and appealing the fine. The magistrate has several options, including ordering a fine to increase daily until a violation is brought into compliance.
At the most recent magistrate meeting, no one appeared to appeal a ruling or a fine. Those who had come into compliance (after their time to comply had expired) were issued the standard fine. There was one violation that was still not in compliance, and the magistrate ordered a fine to be assessed daily until it was brought into compliance.
Four of the seven violations were recreational vehicles parked in front of houses. A recreational vehicle can be a large motor home, boat, etc.
Mason said there are at least a few RV violations at the magistrate meeting each month.
The code says that a violation occurs if an RV is parked in excess of 72 hours within a 30-day period. Checking a violation of this type requires several visits by a neighborhood improvement officer, helping add to the number of inspections required of the department. In 2014, there were a total of 5,214 inspections in the city.
Tim Karr, of Giant Recreation World, said there are options for owners of RVs when it comes to parking.
“There are storage places all over,” he said.
He said most campgrounds have places for storage and many self-storage businesses have open spaces. He said there are even indoor-air conditioned storage places that are utilized by people with “high-end” vehicles.
But he said sometimes a person can get “stuck” with their RV. They might come back from a trip and take a couple of days to unload. Then, if they have an issue, such as a family member getting sick, the RV might be there longer.
Codes are complaint driven, and notifications are issued only when neighbors report a violation.
In coming months, there could be changes to codes in the city. Staff members are creating proposals to expanding the scope of the code to include such things as landscaping and building structure for the City Commission to consider this fall. They are also looking at the various time frames given for different codes.
For information about Neighborhood Improvement and the Land Development Code, visit ormondbeach.org and search for Neighborhood Improvement.
