FELLSMERE — The Fellsmere City Council agreed Thursday evening to drop a property owner’s code enforcement fine from $73,166 to $500 in an effort to get the vacant land sold and developed.
City Manager Jason Nunemaker told the council that dropping the fine to the amount council has previously approved for others would be more than what the property is actually worth.
In the past, the Fellsmere City Council has agreed to reducing fines and liens to cover the initial fine, administrative costs and 10 percent of the end fine.
In this case, the amount would have been more than $7,400, though the undeveloped land is worth closer to $5,000.
Nunemaker said it wouldn’t be in the owner’s best interest to pay the fine and would put the city in a difficult position.
“I’m not excusing the violation that took place,” Nunemaker said, but added that it might be best for the city to reduce the fine to the point where the property owner would be able to sell it to someone who has plans to build and increase the tax base.
The property owner John Laverack Jr. told the council that he would be willing to $500 – 10 percent of the land’s value, knowing that he has a buyer interested in developing the residential lot.
He explained to the council that he bought the property in 2001 and the adjacent home and had used a small strip of the vacant land for parking. In 2005, he moved out of state and the property wasn’t maintained, leading to code violations for too-tall grass.
“It just got overlooked,” Laverack told the Fellsmere City Council, explaining that he knew he received a certified letter from the city regarding the code violation but the timing was such that he was settling into his new home and had a lot going on.
He discovered the code enforcement lien when he tried to sell the property for $5,000 and a title search came back with the $73,166 fine.
Laverack told the council that he plans to sell the property for the same price he bought it back in 2001 just to get it off his hands.
He recommended the $500 as a win-win for him, his buyer and the city, explaining that he rids himself of the property, someone else can build, and the city collects more in tax revenue than it would if the property stayed undeveloped.
Both Mayor Susan Adams and Councilwoman Sara Savage agreed that they would prefer to see something happen at the lot rather see it remain vacant.
The council voted 3-0 to drop the lien amount to $500. Councilmen Fernando Herrera and Daniel Naranjo were absent.
