Taylor Appraisal Services Blog

PORT ST. LUCIE — Aging homes and empty houses are forcing the City Council to discuss revamping code enforcement at a special meeting next month.

At 46 years old, Port St. Lucie is beginning to have homes old enough for serious upkeep problems. Combined with the housing boom and bust, that natural aging of the city is yielding more complaints than ever, Mayor Patricia Christensen said.

Efforts this year, including a "war on litter" and an attempt to collect almost $900,000 in unpaid fines, have not slowed complaints.

"It just seems like we're not making progress," said Councilman Christopher Cooper, who suggested the special code meeting. "It's time we sit down and try to find out A, what we can do to try to make this department work better, and B, try to figure out how to collect these outstanding debts. ...It's just something that's been festering."

With only 11 code officers to cover more than 115 square miles, the Code Enforcement department has struggled to keep up with the growing city. Empty homes, which make up about 15 percent of all code violations, have just exacerbated the problem.

"This is getting worse instead of better," Councilwoman Linda Bartz said. "This is an important issue, not just to the city, but to every resident in the city. ...I don't see Code Enforcement as being able to keep up with it all. It's just too much."

Code officers report to the city's Legal Department, and City Attorney Roger Orr is researching new methods of dealing with problem homes. At the special meeting — scheduled in the next four weeks — Orr promised to give City Council an overview of these possible solutions.

Council members also asked to speak with code officers in other, older cities to see how they have dealt with similar issues.

CODE ENFORCEMENT IN PSL

?The city has 11 code officers to cover its 115 square miles. Three jobs are to be filled and another two can be hired after October.

?Older homes and empty houses are combining to cause more complaints than ever.

?About 15 percent of all code violations involve empty houses.

?The most common complaints are about high grass, but city officials say even small complaints can bring down a neighborhood.

?City Council plans to discuss code enforcement at a special meeting next month.