FELLSMERE — For the last decade, the City of Fellsmere and Indian River County have been trying to clean up a two-street area known for a host of social and criminal ills, but to no avail. Last week, the City floated an idea that could resolve the problem once and for all – forcing the annexation of the 5-acre area into the City’s limits.
“It’s rife with abandoned structures, illegal dumping, prostitution, drug dealing,” Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker told the Board of County Commissioners. “And it’s really hampered our redevelopment efforts.”
He approached the Commissioners, seeking their support to craft an Interlocal Agreement that would essentially give the City of Fellsmere jurisdiction over 100th Lane and 100th Place, which has approximately a half-dozen livable homes.
“It is a last resort option,” Nunemaker said of the forced annexation. “It’s not getting better.”
County staff and Commissioners support the request and will be moving forward to craft the Interlocal Agreement. That agreement will come before the County Commission at a later date for public comment and discussion.
Commissioner Bob Solari said he wanted to be sure it would come before them again before a final vote because he wants to visit the area in question.
“It’s probably the appropriate thing to do,” the Commissioner said of relaying the property to Fellsmere.
As a matter of course, the Fellsmere City Council does not seek out forced annexations – where the City annexes land without property owners’ permission or blessing. Instead, the Council prefers to annex land at the request of property owners.
“I really hate forced annexation,” Councilwoman Sara Savage said, explaining that she, personally, dislikes being told what she can or cannot do with her own property. “But I know how bad the area is. There is no happy medium.”
She said that the annexation would be better on a whole for the area residents.
“I don’t see any other solution,” Nunemaker told the Council during last Thursday’s meeting. He reminded the Council that the City and County have been working to address the problems for 10 years with no resolution or improvement.
Nunemaker said the small-lot development really needs urban services, which the County cannot provide but the City can.
“The area will never be serviced the way it needs to be serviced,” he said.
Under the City’s purview, Fellsmere could clear out the exotic trees in the area, allowing higher visibility of the blighted and abandoned buildings. Doing so, Nunemaker said, would make it more difficult for illegal activities to hide.
As for the process to force the annexation, Nunemaker said it could be quite quick and done with little fanfare. An Interlocal Agreement would be crafted and approved by both governments and then be done.
He suggested, though, that the subject property owners could be notified the City and County are considering this action and see what the reaction is.
If the owners balk at the annexation, the City could attempt to apply pressure to have the owners clean up their area or risk the forced annexation.
“The residents aren’t being accountable to what’s going on,” Savage said.
If the homes are annexed into the city, they would be required to connect to the Fellsmere water service, at their own expense.
Nunemaker explained that the two-street area has known water quality issues because many of the lots’ wells and septic tanks are placed too close together. By annexing the properties, that issue could also be resolved.
Mayor Susan Adams asked that staff crunch the numbers for what the cost would be for those property owners to connect to the water service while the Council moves forward with the Interlocal Agreement.
