Municipal Code Enforcement Board - Regular Meeting

Today's meeting of the Mexico Code Enforcement Board is called to order on Wednesday, 07/23/2025. Welcome, everyone. Please rise to the for the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm a stand in for today, so bear with me. So please be seated.

Agenda for today's meeting are on the wall at the entrance to the chambers. Please remember to turn off your cell phones or silence them. The municipal code enforcement board consists of seven members who are appointed by the city council. We serve voluntarily. It is the board's intention to promote, protect, and improve the health and safety and welfare of the citizens of Clearwater by providing this equitable, effective, and inexpensive method of enforcing certain codes within the city. The board considers new business items in two parts. First, the violation, and then affirmative relief. Formal rules of evidence do not apply. Each side is limited to fifteen minutes. The board may grant additional time.

All proceedings will be conducted in a calm, civil manner. Individuals who conduct themselves otherwise will be asked to leave. If necessary, they will be escorted from favors. Now I will ask anyone that plans to speak, please stand and be sworn in. Board, our first order of business is to review and approve the minutes of last month's meeting. May I have a motion to approve?

Motion to approve.

All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Minutes are approved. Is there anyone here to speak on items not on the agenda? Well, that was easy. I won't even say yes, please step forward then. Okay, please come forward.

Is this on today's case or outside of this

is not something not on the so this is not on the agenda?

No. Okay, good.

Yeah.

Perfect. Can't be

off Yes. The

Please state your name for the record.

I'm Chris Steiner. It's in regards to 1261 Or 1259 Pierce Street.

Okay.

And I'm just here to ask, I don't know if it can influence you. I'm the I'm the tenant. I'm required to clean up. I'm responsible for clean up. And I've had issues with landlord not fixing the roof and causing, I believe, fungal infection in my sinuses and my body making it harder to focus and and of work and, you know, not causing me to sleep, sinus headaches and skinning in my sinuses. So I'm just focusing on moving, but as well as cleaning up,

of course. So

I was just informed four or five days ago that I didn't pass inspection. So I just wanted to let you know I'm working on it. My landlord isn't here, he's not very responsive Okay. On this or other issues I've had with him.

Is this a business or a

It's a home. It's a duplex.

It's a home. It's a duplex. Okay.

And there are other issues with it. He's not responding to it, not not paying the rental fee or whatever that is.

I'm not sure.

Okay. Well, we'll see that we'll see that eventually. I'm sure.

Yeah. He's just not very responsive. But that's what I'm just saying. It doesn't excuse me from not having cleaned it up, although I didn't know it didn't pass inspection until actually now five days ago.

I ask

you a question?

Yeah. We have

a question for you. Is this a current case?

Sounds like a current case.

All

right. Is it a case on today's agenda?

It is.

Sir, if you want to have a seat today, we may call you back up during the agenda item. Thank you. 4.1 continued from June 25, case 3825, find respondents Doyle Partners LLC at 39 Turner Street, violation of code for surfaces. Is there anyone here to speak on that? No? Danielle, you got the floor.

Alright.

Alright. Good afternoon. Forward. Daniel Kasman, Code Enforcement Spectrum from the City of Clearwater. This is case number 38Dash25 for 39 Turner Street. There's one violation here for code section three dash 15 o two b for exterior surfaces. These are the dates notice this violation was sent out to compliance date. I've been in talks with the owner for a long time now since they purchased the property. I guess the original plan was to demolish shit. It's a parcel with actually three homes on it.

If you've ever been by the area off of Orangeview and Turner, the issue was that the exterior of the buildings was in poor repair and that we had asked them to fix it, but they had told us we were looking to demolish and turn the whole thing into a different project. But over time, they've added tenants to the property and then not addressed the exterior surface issues. So we'll go through the slides here. So it's back in January. There were some issues most of the issues were with the metal building on the property, though the front bar building at 39 Turner had some old chip and peeling paint, some minor damages to the exterior.

That's a better look at that metal building. This was a notice of hearing for the it was supposed to be heard last month. They asked for a continuance because they said they were going get into compliance before this date. It

was

the same state of the Teal Building and the middle building was in the same state. They did paint the main building there at 39 Turner, and they had asked for the continuance to demolish the middle building. This was taken care of. This is also yellow now on the rear there. But then they called me two days ago and said now they're going keep the middle building and try to fix it up. And I said, well, we just can't keep continuing this. We need to have a date of compliance for exterior repairs. In the meantime, the third building is starting to also show a little bit of wear and tear around the windowsills. There's a little bit of damage missing and chip peeling paint. And there's a little on the side too, which could use a little bit of paint as well.

They haven't finished the fascia boards there. So compliance made for exterior services by repair of the exterior, removal of all chip peeling paint, repainting where necessary. And for case number 38Dash2539TurnerStreet requesting compliance on or before 08/23/2025, we're fine with $150 per day per violation for each day the violation continues to exist.

Can I have a motion?

It motion?

Is it first?

Yes, it's first motion.

I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case.

Second. All in favor? Aye. May I have a second motion? I

move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violations on or before

August 23.

Twenty third. 08/23/2025. If the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of $150 for each day each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose, collect, or settle such lien.

Second. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. Continued from 06/25/2025, case number 504725, Belcher Professional Complex, 1419 South Belcher Road. Is there anyone here to speak on that? Please come forward. I

should have rewrote this agenda item, my apologies. So the last month you did hear this case and you did find or you found them in violation of the property. So now today you're just here to talk about the affirmative relief portion of it.

Okay. Hello, please state your name for the record.

Holly Jones.

Morgan Wirt.

Morgan Wirt. And so does Danielle want to speak before you then for his part or who's going to speak on it? Come on up.

Good afternoon, Board. Kevin Matics, Clearwater, Coke and Blinds. You heard this from me last month, and then at the end of it, you were asking them to come back a month later to review what further information that they had. I don't have anything further to present. It still remains in the same state as it was when it was presented last month.

Okay. Come forward again. If could tell us what your actions are going to be to bring it to a better state, I guess would be

Thank you. So what we've accomplished since we were here last is is actually a little more than what we thought we could accomplish in that time frame. The civil engineering was completed. The decision for full demolition was made as well. The decision about the second story has been made.

The second story will also be the bottom floor will be 8,260 square feet, matching square footage on the top, the breakdown of what uses that will be and how that will look is here as well. The demo contract was awarded pre construction meeting was set with Kevin Garriott with City of Clearwater for August 26. Or excuse me, August 6. The locate has been out and services disconnected utility services with the removal of that equipment is scheduled for within the next two weeks. The asbestos survey was completed and they found, or excuse me, the asbestos testing was performed.

We have some minor abatement that's scheduled for July 30. The demolition permit was applied for. We've, the plumbing cut and cap was approved on the eighteenth. The demolition portion has not yet been approved, but, we understand that after we complete the asbestos remediation and provide the letter of completion to Pelosi County Air Quality that then they'll go ahead and issue that demolition permit and demo is set to begin. The demo contract had already been awarded before we were here last time.

The boundary survey was done asbestos testing done. The that's where we're at right now. We're in permitting the demo waiting for the demo permit pending the air quality completion the completion of the asbestos replacement abatement sent to air quality.

Perfect, thank you. Do you have any further to add or no? Okay.

We've been busy.

Okay. Do you have any

questions No, to just

the observation, since you've been busy.

You've done a lot.

It's great.

Did you get that engineer's report on the two levels?

Yeah, that came from Howard Civil Engineering. That was the first thing we've got, the civil engineering report back, which allowed us to make the decision that the entire building will come back come down, and also that we'll go back with the second story as we'd hoped we'd be able to at the identical square footage of the bottom 8260 on the bottom, 8260 on the top.

Nicole, do we just do refresh in a month or what do we do

at this point? You

just need the second motion.

Mr. Chair, may I ask a question? You said you had a contract for demolition, is that right? Yes. Do you have a timeline for that as well?

They're just waiting. They're ready to go once we get the demolition permit.

Was there any estimate provided by the contractor in terms of how long that would take?

He hasn't said yet. Can find out and submit.

Once he starts the job, did he say how long it would take once he's allowed to start?

I apologize. He did not, but I'll get that information and submit.

Okay. They'll be ready to start

as soon as Oh, to start. Yeah. They're they're just waiting for the permit, they'll start immediately. I thought you meant for completion of the

I'm just asking a few questions to try to get an idea of what kind of time frame that you're gonna be requesting. The city is requesting, how many days are we in?

Rebecca Mulder, Code Compliance Manager. So when this was presented last month, the recommendation was to have compliance by August 23. So, do you feel that that is adequate to get your permit in place or get the structure?

The permit for sure, because the asbestos remediation is scheduled for July 30, which is a week from today. And then we should be able to very quickly after that submit that to air quality, which should be the only thing keeping us from getting the dental permit. And then once we have the permit, Sonargo and Sons is ready to move on it. We originally asked for our contractor last time we were here said he thought ninety days to get the building to for it to be down. And we wanted to you guys wanted us to come back and show you what we had gotten done so far.

Correct. Nothing has changed physically on the site, but we knew that it wasn't likely in thirty days that anything would change that you could physically see. I asked that question when I was here last, what exactly you would be looking for in those thirty days. So with our contractors' recommendation and time frame having not changed, I would assume that sixty days would be what we need to

So around September.

Right. And then we have the pre construction the application construction meeting August 6. August 6. You know, to see what

happens in Well, that's

I have two questions from If the

we're thinking in terms of compliance with the fact that they're now, I don't recall exactly what the original violation was, it was, you know, whatever abandoned building, so my question is, with demo in mind, what does compliance consist of? Is that a new definition, or what does that consist of?

Rebecca As far as our case goes, once they demolish structure, that's where the violation goes. So we don't get involved in the reconstruction for the new building that they're putting in place. So the preconstruction meeting, all that would happen is outside of us. Once there's no structure, there's no violation. So we're looking for compliance to either reactivate the building or demolish the structure.

If they're thinking that that can be accomplished within the sixty day time period and it's already been found in violation with you guys, then the recommendation would be to seek the September, whatever the next code board meeting was to gain compliance by then. And they can also work with our staff, of course, if there's hiccups or something along the way in regards to the permitting process.

A follow-up to that would be if, with that in mind, if there's an idea of how much time it's gonna take till the building is demolished, and if the final demolition of the building constitutes compliance, then what are we doing if, and if the city's asking for like sixty days, how do those numbers shake out? You know, if it's, you know, is there an extension or how does is there an adjustment of the timeline to allow them to get into compliance if they're actively working on it? I'm looking for a

little bit footage. So yeah, if they, so if you find them in violation, give them till the September. If for some reason they're getting close to that deadline and they haven't obtained the permit or completed the demolition, then, they, we would be looking for them to reach out to us to let them know that there's an issue there. We obviously monitor the permits. And as long as there's a line of communication and there's a justification for that delay, then we can work with property owner on when we submit that affidavit of non compliance or if we submit that after that time period. As long as we see movement and communication, we work with property owners.

Thank you.

Yeah. Just one quick question. On your demo contractor, is he also handling the air quality of the asbestos?

That is a separate company.

I hope so.

And I can answer that for you. That is

number Yeah.

That's a whole different ballgame than demo.

It's gonna be a license.

Definitely. It's set up. Yeah. It's very, very strict.

Yeah. Yes. That is you have it?

Because the reason I'm asking that, I'm not being coy, is most demo contractors aren't Yeah. Graduated to air quality removal of Yeah.

And that in this case is O2 Consulting Inc. Is who has handled the asbestos survey.

Okay. And

the remediation is number six. Is Oris Lee Voigman, IBC Engineering Environmental Construction.

So will they start that before the demo contractor comes in?

Correct. That

would would be be

Yeah,

and that's scheduled for this

I just want to make sure. Usually it is, I just wanted to ask. Was curious. Thank you very much.

ADS, I apologize. ADS is the name of that. Asthesis and Yeah, know. Services.

Okay, thank you.

Of course.

Do we have a motion to move this to September? There is no motion in the books here to make a motion we move it to September date. What's the date in September, Nicole?

Is the twenty fourth.

The twenty fourth, so if somebody can make a motion to continue this to September 24.

I'm sorry, or is this for a compliance date or is this to continue to?

Mr. Chair, can I make a comment to that? If if you, the board continues the case, then we would, they would have to come back if the situation is not resolved by then. If the board gives a deadline, then the staff has the ability to work with them, and if they're pending in permit, for example, at that time, they wouldn't necessarily have to come back in September if we still have some issues to work out. That's why we're asking for a deadline.

That's why we can work with them. The definition of abandoned building references permits, and so if they're making progress and there's some little snags and things like that, staff will have discretion to kind of extend things a little bit, but if you just continue it and we're kind of in it still in limbo at that time, they will have to come back and present to the board again. So we're asking for a deadline with a fine, and then we'll allow staff to give grace if it's needed. Okay.

What's the

amount of the fine? We can use the first and second motion. Yeah. It's 150 of the fine for now.

Wouldn't it just be

the second? With a date of September 25. September 25, yes.

September 24, right?

September 24.

September 24. Do I have a first motion? Calendar.

I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit.

You've already found them in violation.

Okay, Let's go straight to the second. Second, yeah. Okay. Straight to

the second then.

I move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violations on or before twenty fourth twenty twenty five. If the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of $1.50 per day per violation each day. Each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose collectors settle such lien.

I have a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passed. So that means that if all that happens before then, we don't need to see you again, and you go on with your project. Okay. Thank you very much.

Good luck.

Thank you. Thank you, ladies.

Case number 49Dash20Feet5, Leslie Conklin and Deborah Conklin, 435LotusPath in violation of code word, serious surfaces, doors, windows, openings, roof maintenance, and public health. Anybody here to speak on that?

Yes. I'm Leslie Conklin.

Okay. Please come forward. We'll have you forward for a minute, then we'll sit you back down for a minute. Sorry about that. If you could state your name for the record.

I'm Leslie M. Conklin.

Do you need an address, Nicole?

430 Lotus Path, Clearwater, Florida.

Very good. Do admit or deny the

Deny.

Deny the violation? Okay. If you'll have a seat just for a moment, we'll let Mr. Kasman explain it, and then we'll have you back up too. Thank you. So don't go too far, please.

Good afternoon again, Board. Daniel Kasman, code inspector for the City Of Clearwater. This is case number 49Dash25430LawyersPath. Actually, there were five violations at a certain point, but now there's only four. And one of them is going to be a declaration, so three remaining. One was Code Section three-fifteen oh two for exterior surfaces Code Section three-fifteen oh two D1, D3 and D4 for roof maintenance Code Section three-fifteen oh two C1, C3 and C4 for door and window maintenance and the last one, Code Section -503A, B3, B5, B9 for the hazardous pool. The pool is now clean, so I'm just going to ask for a declaration of violation on that one when we get to it.

Okay.

So these are the dates of notice of violation were sent out with the compliance date. I have spoke with mister Conklin before about what was going on at the property. He's in compliance with a few other things involving the fence that had fallen down after the storm, so give him more time. This is a look at 430 Path. I don't know how it looks on your what you guys can see, but there are some issues with the exterior.

What I keep seeing those is persistent splotching across the entire structure from the paint. And there was a few damaged areas. You look down low there, you can see some damage to the corner piece, cornice trim there. On the other side, there was chipped and peeling paint, same kind of splotching effect. But the complaint came in from the neighbor the pool being green and about the roof of the garage had collapsed on the property.

Now this is a better look at it from there. I believe it was from after the storm. Mister Kant could clarify that. And then in addition, the garage door was damaged and the fence had fallen down. That was providing access to the pool at the time, but then like I said, the fence had gone back up. Again, some more exterior surface issues and then one of the board one of the windows on the 2nd Floor was boarded up. This was after a compliance date. Some I think at this point, the fence had gone back up, but there's still there were the other issues with the exterior and the window trim and the window being closed up. The pool was still green. At that I guess at that time, the fence was still down.

Same issues with the garage. This was back in June. As you can see, that one long strip of trim on the right side has been painted. But on the exterior, there's still some little minor damages. Again, it looks like splotching or, I don't know, peeling paint.

The garage was in the same state, but the but the fence was back up, so I closed out that portion of the, violation. Again, more paint had been put on the window trim, but the garage door was still damaged and the pool was still green at that time. And then I'd also noticed there's a little bit of fascia damage on the 2nd Floor as well if you look there in the middle of the picture on that 2nd Floor area. This was today. Again, at least that bottom section has been painted.

Still a little bit like you see those little bits and pieces missing. I can defer to the board of what how much they want for exterior surfaces. Mr. Conklin explained it, but the pool is not blue, so I'm ready for a declaration of violation on that. Same issue on the second floor with the window being boarded up, a little bit of damage to that fascia board, and now the roof of the garage seems to be pulling in the rafters now.

We need to get that taken care of. So compliance may have for the exterior surface by removing any chipped appealing paint, repainting when necessary. Compliance is meant for roof maintenance by repairing the caved in roof of the garage, repairing any damaged soffits or fascia on the home. Demolition of the garage is also the way to come to compliance. Compliance is meant for the door and window maintenance by removing any boards from the windows replacing glass and repairing damage to the door of the garage and compliance meant for the hazardous pool that's currently in compliance.

So for all these violations for three of them, really, I'm asking for compliance before July. That should be 08/23/2025, my mistake. And we're fine of $150 a day per violation for each day. Violations continue to exist, and I'm asking for a declaration of violation for the pool issue.

Let's go ahead and get the declaration of compliance done, so if somebody wants to do the declaration of compliance, I think that's

Declaration of violation completed, I'm sorry, complied to prior to the meeting. I move to find the Mr.

Chair, if I may, respondent did deny the violations. I think that that meant that he was denying all of them. We should hear from him and then the city would ask to be given the chance to respond to whatever he says about the violations.

Sir, if you can come back forward, please. I was trying to get the good news out of the way first. I'm trying to get the best news out of the way first. I

don't deny the roof on the garage. I did have the garage door fixed. During the storm, both of my pumps on the pool were knocked out. They had to be replaced, put a new filter, and then my pool guy quit. He went to another job altogether, meaning he left the pool business. So I've hired another pool company. My wife told me today the pool is blue. So that's being worked on. That should be cleaned up very shortly. This is really the first time I've heard about the model paint.

When I first talked with mister Kasman, there had been damage on the west side of the home from the storm. Some siding was missing.

I had

the siding replaced, had it painted. I thought that's what the painting violation was. Had all the windows fixed. The sills were redone. Broken window, I don't know anything about that. I live there, and I don't know of a broken window. And I need more time for the roof for the garage. I've had difficulty getting a roof contractor even come out. One, it's either too small of a job for them than doing bigger jobs. And two, they're working on other roofs.

So I have a roofing contractor coming out tomorrow to give an estimate. I hope to have, you know, a contract within a week or so. So to correct the violations before and as I say, I was surprised today by the the model paint complaint. I thought the complaint was about the fact that the missing siding on the west side, which I replaced had painted and

so forth.

I have been trying to comply. I'm I'm 73 years old. I've lived there since 1981. My wife's 70 years. The complaint by the neighbor, he's also wants to buy my house. This is like, to me, a gentrification problem, you know. I've reached an age where I'm a sole practitioner attorney, practiced since 1977. The point is, you know, I need to earn money as I go along to have this done. So I've done the fence, did the the garage door, I've done the windows. I thought I did the painting.

As I say, I was surprised that the complete now is the entire house, the modeling of the painting. So now I take it the board is looking for me to paint the entire house. So that's another expense I'm gonna have to earn money to do. I will not have a worker out there working, you know, unable to pay him. So as I say, I'm gonna work on the roof, you know, next. I've done the pool, done the fence, done the windows, done the, you know, siding. So, you know, I'm trying my best, as I say, under a situation where as I say, I have a neighbor who would like to buy the house.

Very good.

Do you have any questions for him while he's out? No. Okay. Have a seat for a minute, we'll have Mr. Kasman back up.

So I have questions. Okay.

This modeling of the paint is, you know, from what I can see in the pictures, what is that? Is that a touch up with the color that doesn't match or is it I mean, what is the situation of the painter? Are you able to give us more detail on that?

Well, I kind of was wondering, and I was okay with anyone else with more expertise, you know, ready to give me their advice on this one. He did take care of a lot of other painted areas of the property. It's just such I mean, maybe I don't know enough about paint myself, but why does it look like that all over the house?

It's splotchy like

that. Is it

that the color is inconsistent?

Or is it a thickness issue when it was originally done? Has it been too long? Is it fading? Is it peeling?

Whatever the issue is, is it the point that it's inconsistent and it doesn't meet what's called for under the code in terms of the finish?

Well. Would, Mr. Kasman, can you put the notice up that shows the exterior surfaces code? The exterior surface code specifies that peeling paint is a code violation, and then it has some language regarding matching the material color bonding and joining when it goes to

Match as closely as possible. I'm sorry to

interrupt Yeah, see that, you found it though. That's It says that it should be, you know, exterior surfaces shall be free of mildew, rust, loose material, including peeling paint and patching. So that's the, I think that's the prohibition that's at issue here. And then in terms of what needs to be done to comply, the next clause addresses that. It says painting or resurfacing shall be accomplished to match the existing or adjacent surfaces as material color bond and joining.

And I just I do want to say, too, that we obviously, we recognize the situation, and we don't want to impose any kind of hardship on someone. So, terms of timelines and things like that, we have a legal obligation to provide reasonable timelines to people. So I do want to say that, and we, you know, defer to the discretion of the Board in making that determination what's reasonable. But that's the code you see there. That is the code that we're obligated to enforce. Thank you. Inspector, I

have one question. The owner said that he doesn't know of a broken window, but yet you say there are broken windows?

Well, the board window I'm talking about, if you look back on the photos, if we go back to the PowerPoint.

It seems up again. There it is.

Where's my pointer? On the 2nd Floor here. Mhmm. It's boarded up. Not necessarily broken. Just you can't board up our windows either. Right. As far as the garage door goes

And there are other windows that need to be repaired as well?

I believe that's the only one. Only one? The garage door and this let me find the most recent photo. It's this here. The garage door is still damaged. Yeah. That's part of doors and windows. It applies to all doors, all windows.

What's the date on that photo?

This is today.

Okay. Alright.

I went there this morning and took a look. I mean, I would assume it would just be part of the garage repair in general, whether you're gonna keep it or repair it, take care of all of it. That's what I was talking about, the windows and doors.

Have you been in contact with the owner, Mr. Compton, on

We were more in contact in the beginning of this case. Been lingering and lingering. And I didn't know what his plans were with the garage, whether he was gonna keep it or demolish it. Sounds like he's got the contract. He's told me it's been hard to find a contract for the garage. And the feds did go up, which would at least kept people from going into pool area. Now the pool is clean. I just and again, more most of the major concern is the caved in rough of the garage. The other stuff is easier to handle in a certain way than that.

Got you. Thank you.

Board, any other questions for you?

And it's not boarded flat As far as that garage door, that was the one that I didn't understand that that was the complaint. Part of that side fence that you see on the left, there was a gate to that, and I thought that's what he called it for lack of a better word. That gate was replaced. What you're seeing on that garage door, is something in front of it. I think that's a garbage pit. There is some boards at the bottom because there were some rot damage from water, but it's it's not what it appears on that picture.

Is that a shade, a pull down shade over the window? Yes. Okay.

Well, on the interior. Yeah. I mean, my next door neighbor's boarded up all of his windows cause he goes away for six months.

Yeah.

But no, that's not boarded up and it's not broken. That's my that's the master bedroom.

Yes. I have chased those kind of chased off of my windows too at home. And sometimes it looks from the street though, it looks like it's been boarded.

It is, as I say, that's on the inside. It has not been boarded. The window is not broken. I sleep in that room every night.

I have

a follow-up

question, question.

Oh, and the paint, I deny that the paint is chipped or peeling. What Mr. Kasmin's complaining about is that the paint color is not uniform, that it has some splotching. I can't remember when I had the house painted last, but the splotching is probably sun damage. So but it is not peeling or chipped or, you know, missing. That part from the damage of the storm, I had paint repainted and, you know, replaced siding and, you know, fix that. So the complaint now is the color is not uniform.

Before you leave, sir, I have a couple other questions for Do feel like you have a grasp or understanding of the repairs being requested by the city?

No. If they're talking about I have to repaint the house, you know, and the splotching, that's first to say I've known of that. Any chipping that there was, you know, I repaired and had painted and replaced siding. So, no, that's this is a new one on me. As far as the garage door, I completely misunderstood.

There was a gate missing, which is you can't see it from this picture, but the gate is perpendicular and actually facing the garage, and that was down from the storm. That has been replaced. You know, back up and fixed. And as far as this garage door, at the bottom, yes, I have some boards that cover the bottom where it was rotten. I understand it today. I didn't understand it before, but the picture that you're seeing is misleading. There's something in front of the in front of the door. I think it's a garbage table. See. It's not boarded up to that, you know, to waist height.

It just isn't. It's no more than probably three feet.

But the garage door boards at the bottom, you can have those replaced, right?

Yes. Yeah. Okay.

As I said, I didn't understand that was the problem, I thought it was the door to the gate which was

Oh, that's why we have inspectors, so they Well, and it was

down, so that's what I understood was the problem.

So if we gave it, not speaking on behalf of the board solely, but if we gave you an extra time, do you think you can get all the things that you now know of Yes. Yes. Okay.

How much time work do you think you need?

Well, we have storms come in, that's gonna affect the roof repair, so I don't know. I would think if you could give me to, I guess, October 23. I mean, about the roof, the other things I can fix before that.

We made it on the twenty

second. I think there's two things at issue here, if I could speak. Number one, I think there's a difference, a little bit of difference in how Mr. Kasman is looking at this per the building code and what the owner, how the owner is viewing this, and I think there's, it would be important for you to be in contact with Mr. Kasman

and right. Lost Also during this time period, I moved my office.

Understood.

And I have the same telephone number for my business, but it took several days, almost a week, to get it installed in the building in Largo.

So Understood. I think it it it would be important for this in order for this thing to resolve for you, for you to be in contact with your building inspector so that there's an understanding of the things that need to be corrected in order to make this thing go away.

And in this case, this is Mr. Kassman?

Yes. Oh,

okay. I

didn't want

nebulous building inspector. Yeah. Okay.

I I

Katzmann.

You want to set it for like September with the, to see where we're at and if it's, there's correction going on.

Yeah, our next meeting is September 24.

Does anybody want to make up? First and a second motion for that. The three motions that he needs.

I'll be glad to do that. I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case.

Do I have a second?

Second. All in favor?

Aye. Motion passes. Second.

I move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violation on or before September 24. Okay, if the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of $150 per day per violation. For each day, each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city has authorized to foreclose, collect, or settle such lien.

Second. Mr. Chairman,

can we just clarify that that reflects the first three violations?

Yes. That

just covers your first three violations because the boot has been declared.

We'll do that one separately, yeah.

Yeah, we're gonna do that one separate.

Second. We have a second, all in favor? Aye. And now for the good one, we have a declaration of compliance. Page six or eight, whichever one you want is, I think.

Why don't you do that for Bob?

I move to find the respondent was in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case. The violation was corrected prior to today's hearing and to enter an order that no fine be imposed. If the respondent repeats the violation, the board may order a fine of up to $500 for each day the violation continues to exist.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. You're pooled with the shining star of the day.

And we'll see you back on the twenty fourth so you can give us your progress report then.

Or just have it cleared up, we won't see you. Yeah.

Rebecca Mulder, just for clarification, you guys ordered a compliance by September, not a update, Not

an update. Right. Is correct.

So he won't be required to

come Yeah, required to come back. Everything's done what we just

did. The Just gentleman's for the gentleman's clarity, the deadline in September, if the compliance officer determines that it's still in violation the day after, then he will be required to file what's called noncompliance. That would get scheduled for another hearing. He has discretion to delay the filing of that, or he may even determine that you're in compliance, and then he would file that case would close. But if it's if there's still some disagreement in regard of what to do about the pain, that would be something that you could work out with him, maybe buy a little bit more time through that affidavit process.

But regardless, if you can't come to an agreement, ultimately he would file the affidavit of non compliance. You would come back, you'd have another opportunity to make your case in front of the board at that time whether or not you were in fact in compliance or not.

All right, thank you. Will there be a written order

issued

for today?

Yes. It's very important you stay in touch now with Mr. Kasman because he can really guide you along the way and help you along

the way. Thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you for your time. Alright. Moving on. Case number 50Dash25, I wanna say Legoland, but it's Lago Land Corp at 7115 South Gulfview Avenue in violation of fences, walls, and initial order compliance deadline be met. Is there anybody here to speak on that? Please come forward.

Chris, okay.

You could state your name for the record.

Yes. I'm Jeff Castner, representing the owner and the general manager of Opal Sands in Opal Sol.

Okay. Could you repeat your last name, please?

Castner, c a s t n e r.

Thank you.

Do they admit or deny the violation?

Admit the violation.

Admit the violation? If you don't mind having a seat for a minute, we'll have Mr. Kasmin explain it, and then we'll have you tell us more.

Good afternoon again, board. Daniel Kasim with the City of Clearwater Cook Compliance Division. This is case number 50Dash25 for 715 South Gulfview Boulevard. There's one violation there for code section three dash eight zero eight a one through six for fence maintenance. And this is the date the notice of violation. The compliance date was set out. I could get the green card back from the owner. If you guys remember the slot, it's next to the new JW Marriott at 691 South Gulf View. They did have a they've had a fence up there for quite while, but seems like after the storms, it fell down and hasn't been put back up yet. This stat was back in April.

This is

in May. Just sections missing, sections falling over, some of the pylons left or bent and still on the ground. So I'd sent them the notice just saying either repair the fence or remove the fence. But as of this point, still nothing has happened.

That's a chain link fence?

Yes.

It's just hard to see because there's Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, it's just hard that you can see right through it.

You can see right through it. Yeah. That's a better shot.

See it

better there.

Yeah. I got you. But it's fine.

Over in places.

Yeah. And this is, so yeah, take a closer look, this is this morning.

Some pieces.

Now, can I ask you a question?

Sure. Is

that, I mean, I'm seeing overlapping sections, almost like temporary fencing sections, or, and then I'm seeing fence posts further down that are bent over that Yes. Permanent obstructions that I'm

that's looking

Further down as you take that turn on the Sansky Bridge, a lot of some of them are bent, I guess you could say some of them are still upright, but some of the fence panels are just sitting in the pile there.

Okay. And that's been that way for quite a while, haven't you?

Since the storm?

Well, since the storm, we've been trying to give people time to, you know, out there on the beach since what happened, and it just so happened that we sent a notice of violation here. Again, all the city is really asking for is that we just we either restore this fence or we can remove the fence. Yeah. Compliance will be meant by repairing any section of the fence that's fallen over or damaged. The other option is just to remove the fence. And I'm requesting compliance center before 08/23/2025 for a fine of $150 per day for each state of violation continues to exist.

Thank you.

That's the simple compliance.

Do want to come back up? Is there a plan for the fence at the moment?

Yes, sir, there certainly is. Apologize for the delay on our own fault, we had some, the name itself is tricky, it's not one we say every day, so this thing kind of got lost in the shuffle, but when we found out we had contacted Smith Fence and had them out to come up with a plan for us, it got delayed because there was some confusion how long that fence was there. Some of you'd seen it for a long time. They couldn't figure out who put it up, how, where, when. Well, we cleared all that up in May, and have a contract already signed that we paid for.

We were supposed to have it up by the week of the July 7, but they got pulled to Pai Airport to do some emergency work. He's told me this week, he guarantees me on seventwenty eight, he'll have the install done. So we'll have the fence from JW all the way around, all the way to the bridge will be done. It will be done not as a temporary fence, but put in poles and concrete. As you mentioned, there's a few of those. There was some temporary before. It'll all be more of a chain link fence with the black, whatever you call it, the silver over it to

hide the back, and

we'll keep it nice, like we did for a few years prior to the storm, we did let that go, we apologize, and it'll be done before August 1.

Okay, so August 23, can meet that deadline without a

question. We certainly will.

Okay, thank you very much.

And you say it'll be up by July 28?

July 28,

he's given me the install date, I hope he doesn't get the It'll weekend be everything goes by, but we'll get it done, yes sir.

Okay. Board, do I have any questions or a motion?

First motion.

First motion.

I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this

case. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Second motion?

I move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violations on or before August 23. If the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of

$100

and

per day per violation for each day each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose, collect or settle such lien.

Second, somebody?

Second. Second.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Look forward to the fence.

Thank you, sir.

Case number 51Dash25, find respondents Marco R. Pensina Hernandez Tres at 512 South Martin Luther King in violation of code for short term rental in order to show compliance. Is anybody here to speak on that? Yes, sir. If you can come up and state your name for the record.

Yes. My name is Marcus Pecunia. It's p e c u n I a.

Do you admit or deny the violation?

Admit it.

You admit it? Okay. Yeah. If you could have a seat just for a second, and then he'll explain it, and we'll have you back up to finish. Mister Stevens?

Good afternoon, board. John Stevens, co compliance inspector for the city of Clearwater. This is case number 51Dash25 regarding 512 South Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard here in the city. We have one violation here using sections one dash one hundred four and three dash nine nineteen for illegal short term rental. Notice of violation was sent out on, April 29 and it was also posted at the property.

A previous courtesy notice had been sent out in the March notifying the property owner of the violation. When the property was posted, the compliance date was on May 6 and we received the certified mail signed back in the office on May 12. Here's the posting for today's actual hearing. And then here's our first listing for the Airbnb website that we found regarding this property. And if you look where I have it highlighted, if you're not familiar with Airbnb, when you normally go and select that box to put in your date, if the property owner has a minimum amount of stay that you have to stay, it will pop up and say two day minimum, seven day minimum, whatever the case may be.

There was no minimum at that time and this was back on March 26, which I have highlighted down there in the bottom corner as well. Also, at that timeframe and checking our listings to see if this property actually had a residential rental business tax receipt. It did not at the time there used to be a previous one, but then property changed ownership and a business tax receipt had not been obtained at that time. So we fast forward when I got the mail back and nothing had changed. I checked on April 29 and the property had now been updated to where you had a minimum listing of at least seven nights to stay at the property.

And at the time frame, they still did not have a residential rental business tax receipt. That's when the property got posted with the compliance day of May 8. On May 8, it still had a seven night minimum stay and no business tax receipt at the time. On May 28, though, we actually received in office an application for a residential rental business tax receipt from the property. But there are several things that the property owner list out he did not indicate how he intended to rent the property, which by the application you're supposed to put on there monthly, yearly, whatever you decide to do.

And then down here, I don't know if you can see it, but this block actually described what we define as a short term rental, and that you initial saying that you acknowledge that, basically you understand you're not supposed to do that. So on May 29, double checked the the listing afterwards of getting that business tax receipt, and it's still showing this property has a minimum listing for seven days. And then when we fast forward to this morning that has got it up updated, but it's now for minimum of five days instead of going to one calendar month or thirty one days. So compliance could be met for the illegal short term rental violations by changing any rental listing on any website or platform such as Airbnb, VRBO, booking.com, etc to a minimum of thirty one days or one calendar month. They can delete the listings altogether and choose to rent the property through a broker or something of that nature on a monthly or yearly basis.

And then our recommendation for this case is we're requesting compliance by August 10 and of this year for a fine of $250 per day for the violation for every day the violation exists.

Board? Sorry, you want to come back forward.

Yeah. What I will do is I will change the minimum required days. I was delaying that because we are was planning to move here to Clearwater. My wife is a teacher, so we'll she was applying for start on August, but she don't have any offer. We're So gonna probably stay another year in Saint Cloud that we have our primary residence. But I will make the changes today to comply with the codes.

Are you the owner?

Yes.

Okay. It's just two different names on my sheet here. I'm sorry?

Marco Picunia, that's him.

Oh, okay. Have an atrocity.

I thought it was a different spelling, okay.

Yeah. Well, thank you, and we'd like to go ahead and let the board make their motions. May have a first motion?

I move to find a response in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case.

Do we have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, move to enter order requiring the respondent to correct the violations on or before 08/10/2025. If the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of $250 per day per violation for each day each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such a lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose, collect, or settle such lien.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Mr. Patisson? So as long as you stay in compliance, make sure your, what we call the BTR business tax receipt is in compliance as well, then smooth sailing.

Yes. It's important to fill that out correctly, your BTR. I'm sorry? Your BTR receipt, business tax receipt, it's very important you fill that out. You have to have that to round it.

Okay. I

will Yeah. You work together and I'll take care of that.

He'll he'll help you. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you. Thank you. Case number 53O, wait. 5052Dash25, five respondents, Gonzalo Diaz and c Selena Diaz at 1122 Brownell Street in violation for short term rental and business tax receipt. Is there anybody here to speak on that one? Nope. Uh-oh. Mister Stevens, you got it.

Okay. Again, board, John Stevens, co compliance inspector for the city of Clearwater. Case number 5225 regarding 1122 Brownell Street. We have two violations here for again illegal short term rental and the residential rental business tax receipt violation. Notice of violation was mailed and posted on May 14.

A previous courtesy notice had been sent on April 29, but it very quickly got returned to sender back in the office. Compliance date for this was May 28. And as you can see here, there's a posting on the property I did, and that's the actual property in question. There's supposed to notice for today's hearing. And then here's our initial Airbnb listing on April 29.

As you can see there, the highlighted section shows two night minimum stay. And in checking on May 20 or excuse me, April 29, the last business tax receipt was actually under a different owner and expired back in 2011. So there hasn't been one there for for quite some time. On or excuse me, after the compliance date, the listing had not been updated, it was still showing a two night minimum. And still a BTR had not been obtained.

And then a spot check on June 26 still showing two night minimum and no BTR been obtained or applied for. And then this morning we're still showing a two night minimum. And checking the seller, files again for our business tax receipts, there has not been a business tax receipt applied for or obtained for that property as well as today. So compliance can be met for the illegal short term rental again by changing any rental listing on a website or platform such as Airbnb, VRBO, booking.com, etc, to a minimum of thirty one days or one calendar month, delete the listing altogether or rent the property on a monthly or yearly basis. And then compliance can be met for the 100 residential

rental business tax receipt by obtaining a residential rental business tax receipt or stop leasing the property altogether. And then our recommendation for case number 5025

is we request compliance, by August 10, of this year or a fine of $250 a day for the illegal short term rental violation and a fine of $50 a day for the residential rental business tax receipt for each day the violations continue to exist.

Have you had any communication from the owner at all?

Have not.

Okay. No phone call. You have a phone number for them? They're just not answering, you just don't have any way to contact them other than the mail?

I don't have a phone number presently, no.

Okay. Do

we have a motion?

Mr. Chairman, perhaps some of our newer members would like to read.

No. I think it's not.

Page one.

I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case.

Second. All in favor? Aye.

I move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violation on or before 08/10/2025. If the respondent does not comply by that date, or may order a fine of $250 per day per violation for each day, but each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose, collect or settle such lien.

How do we get the $50 a Yes,

$2.50 for the short term 50 for the business tax.

All right.

We can just add in $50 for the tax.

There's

two separate ones, so we can't combine them, right?

No, you can't combine them, but you can make them both in the same motion.

Okay, $2.50 for of code for short term rental and $50

Business tax receipt. Business receipt,

yeah, DTI.

All right.

Do I have a second? Is that

sufficient, is the motion?

Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you.

Good read.

All right. Case number 50Three-twenty5, fine respondents, Clearwater Angular LLC at 607 North Myrtle Avenue in violation of tone for signed maintenance initial order for compliance.

Good afternoon, board. Steven Burkhardt, sign inspector for city of Clearwater. This is case 53Dash25For60607NorthMyrtleAvenue.

Is anybody here to speak on that that you know? I want to speak on it. Thank you. Sorry about that. So

there's one violation regarding code section three dash fifteen oh two I for sign maintenance. All signs shall be maintained in good condition in the form in which the signs were originally approved, free of mildew, rust, loose material, including peeling or fading paint or materials. Any loose, broken, peeling, or faded parts of the sign shall promptly painted, or replaced. The notice of violation was mailed in March 2025. Complaints date was 04/22/2025, and I received certified mail received in 04/01/2025.

So this is this is a poll sign at the location. There was previously a law office in there. And as you can see, the cabinet is damaged, and the paint is peeling, fading, and it shows some rust. Also, the the face panels of that need to be covered, painted, or replaced with other face face panels because the business is not active there anymore for many years. So this is another picture of the sign.

You can see the side of the cabinet is broken and it sticks out. And then this is the total property, and you can see this is of today. So it's no changes. And I had contact with the he he introduced himself as the property owner, a gentleman who was there at the location, and he said he was going to fix it. But I've never heard of him anymore, and I don't have a phone number also.

There's no business tax receipt for any business at application. And, yeah, that's all I have for that. Alright. Compliance for the nonconforming freestanding sign in need of maintenance can be met by repairing the sign and sign structure so that is in good condition, free of any damage, rust, discoloration, fading, and or peeling paint elements, or remove the sign and sign structure. Okay.

Recommendation for the case. Requesting compliance on or before 08/25/2025 if the violation continues to exist and post a fine of $150 per day. Each day, the violation continues to exist. Any questions?

And a first motion?

I move to find the respondent in violation of the code as referred to in the affidavit in this case.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Second motion?

I move to enter an order requiring the respondent to correct the violations on or before 08/25/2025. If the respondent does not comply by that date, the board may order a fine of $150 per day per violation for each day each violation continues to exist. If fines and fees remain unpaid three months after such lien is filed, the city is authorized to foreclose, collect or settle such lien.

Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Moving to you again. Case number 54Dash25, find respondents five nine four nine Cleveland Street LLC at 901 Cleveland Street in violation of code for prohibitive sign in in order to issue compliance. Anybody here to speak on that? Okay. Please come forward.

Have been sworn in.

Case and the next one on the agenda will be grouped together. It's the same property.

Should I read out the case number we start? Should I read out that case number too so it's in the record?

Yes, please. Okay.

We're also entertaining case number 55Dash25, final respondent at 949 Cleveland Street at 901 Cleveland Street in violation code for window signage. So thank you. Please state your name.

Thank you. I'd like to

thank everyone for their time today. My name is Dania Rosario. I'm the director of operations for NM Residential who manages Cleveland Street

Market. Was the name?

Dania, d a n I a.

No, was Dania.

Oh, Cleveland Street Market.

Cleveland Street Market. My name is Alexander

Cavallo. I am the marketing director NR Residential, which also oversees Cleveland Street Market.

You two arrive a little bit late. Could you please sworn in? You.

Mike Mastrocerio.

Thank you all. Do you admit or deny the violation? Deny. You deny the violation? You may have a seat, the three of you,

for a moment. We'll have

the inspector come up.

Steven Burkhardt, sign inspector for the city of Clearwater. These are two cases, case 54Dash25 and case 55Dash25 for 901 Cleveland Street. There's two violations. The first violation is regarding code section c dash seven zero five d seven c one. Allowable sign area for window signs in the downtown district.

The dimensional requirements, window signs shall not exceed 25% of any window or glass door opening. Where multiple windows present as one large window, the window grouping will be treated as one window for the purpose of calculating allowed signage. The total area of window signs erected along a street frontage shall not exceed 50 square feet. And the other violation is regarding code section three dash 18 o six one a, criterion limitation for sidewalk signs. A permit shall be obtained on a yearly basis for any sidewalk sign.

It's also a sidewalk sign without a permit erected is also a prohibited sign. So that's three dash eighteen o four J. The notice of violation has been mailed in March 21. Compliance date was 04/21/2025, and certified mail received 04/03/2025. So this is one of the sidewalk signs erected at at the location that was in February 2025.

There was no permit obtained for this one. That was off from July 21. There are two more sidewalk signs out there. As you can see, that one is in the middle of the sidewalk. So it is also hazard for pedestrians. Then to the window signage. So this is one glass glass door. It's basically what we call it as one opening, basically. That consists of two doors, but we count it as one. And this is more than 25% the signage part of it.

And this is for the Cleveland Street market. Same situation, window signage over 25%. See here,

a little bit,

and here also the left and right panels, they are covered entirely in with signage and then the middle part is also too much. Total is over 25%. This is a smaller window. It's then then same. Same.

That's compliance. And But I the would ask for declaration of violation for that case, for the sidewalk signs, because it's an in a so it can be easily put inside and out. And more pictures. Compliance can be met by four case 55 dash 25 reducing window signage to 25% or less. And for case 54 dash 25, abiding by all the criteria or by removing the sidewalk sign from the property and refrain from re erecting one until a permit is obtained and all the criteria and limitations can be abided by.

And for that's for the window signage, allowable sign area for window signs in downtown district requesting compliance on or before 08/25/2025 if the violation continues to exist and pose a fine of $150 per day. Each day, the violation continues to exist. And that's the case fifty four-twenty five, the recommendation for the sidewalk sign is requesting a declaration of violation. Any questions?

I have a question. If are sidewalk signs allowed if they're permitted?

Yes, they're allowed for the permit. One per business.

One per business? One, yes.

So we

saw, what, three different signs. Were those all for the same business or

different So at the parcel, that's one parcel. There's multiple businesses. Each businesses can obtain one permit for one sidewalk sign. So of course, the one, slow cafe, where you see two sidewalk signs, that wouldn't be allowed because there would be a lot of one sidewalk sign.

Okay. Are there any guidelines or is there any code language that describes the placement of those?

Yes.

Okay.

So there can be in the downtown district on Cleveland Street Market five feet away from the building.

Is it three or five?

Actually, I'm not correct. I think this this is only for the Cleveland Street mark up to up to Myrtle. So in that area, it's two feet. It's two feet maximum.

I remember reading that order years ago.

There's only the only exception is for literally the the Cleveland Street downtown district, but that only goes up to Myrtle. So that's already outside that area.

You have some crowded area.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. You want to come back up for a moment?

Can you explain to us what your plan may be or thoughts?

Yes, so to begin with, I'd like to clarify that Cleveland Street Market is definitely a unique asset in the fact that it is a food hall, which has 11 individual stalls inside, which are all for individual businesses. So each one of them has a stall. You know, and I'd like to preface this by stating that all of them depend on having some sort of signage on the windows to be able to bring foot traffic inside. As of right now, we've already lost about five of those vendors because we did not have enough foot traffic and they can no longer financially back this business. So half of our Cleveland Street market is already empty as is.

We are battling foot traffic on a daily basis. The signage in question was designed to be tasteful and cohesive with the intent of supporting the small businesses. Our goal has never been to violate code, but rather to adapt to the market's distinct structure. It has over 846 square feet of window space available. And as of right now, we're only using 200 of those square feet.

So it is less than 25% total. So definitely would like to allow Mike to discuss the, I guess, clarification because we have been giving a lot of conflicting information regarding 25 of each window because of the market's unique structure, I would say. I'd also like to clarify that once again, these businesses have individual tenants. Those two signs outside of the slow or on the go cafe were not approved by me. They all come to me for approval.

As soon as I realized that they had those outside, I did let them know that they needed to go online and apply for a permit in order to have that outside. Were those none of those signs are for Cleveland Street Market, which is what we manage. One of those was for one of our tenants inside and the other one was for the cafe one. So all of these issues that were brought to our attention, I did provide photos to Mr. Stefan letting him know that we had already removed those and that I had informed those tenants that they need to go online and apply for that permit before they can put those back outside.

So those have already been corrected. I will let Alex speak regarding the window signage and all for asking is for consideration because the food hall is kind of a unique business. It has a lot of people inside and we can only do so much to help them with foot traffic.

Would like to also begin by clarifying that some of the photos that were shown were slightly outdated. We have been trying our best to align with the regulations. Specifically, sidewalk signs have all been removed at this point. This has been communicated to Stefan. I believe some of the photos were also all the way back from February.

And since then, we have gone through different transitions into pretty much trying to align with the regulations and so forth. In addition to that, some of those photos for the window signage also had some yard signs that were placed on their top windows, which are not permanent signage itself and that has also been removed at this point. So, efforts have been made for us to follow regulations, specifically the sidewalk signage, believe all of that has been resolved at this point. So the approach for denial would be specifically for the window signage itself. I did also bring some copies of some more updated pictures, if that's okay. I'm not this is my first time being here, so I don't

know if it's okay if I

could Yes.

We'd love to see it.

I also have some picture copies. Sorry about that. Just pass them along. So apologies that the printer in the library

upstairs was running out of ink right here.

But this would be the entire space itself. Sort of bridge area a, you can see that we have pretty much

I know that some of

the photos that were in the PowerPoint has some signage and up in the top windows right here, but as you can see, we've kinda tried to admit that. Again, this would be the main signage that we are currently focusing on at the moment and we're looking to get approval for. This will be our doors, and then you would have some lettering right above that. Right here in Area B, again, we would have some more of that signage right here with some more empty windows on top. And the windows right here and then some logos advertising our top off Zoom suites and our our business street market name right there.

We have our text signage and plain logos on each door. Keep in mind, we have multiple entrances. Therefore, that's the reason why we have multiple areas with our logo on it. Right here, this would be area c. And then this would be our corner. Right here, you can ignore this a frame. This has been removed. Again, we're focusing here on the signage. This is one of those yard signs that I was referring to. This has also been removed at this point.

And then right down here at the this banner has also been removed. However, all of this window signage is what we're looking to to receive approval for.

Thank you. Thank you. How many tenants do you have at the moment? I've been there several times.

As of right now, we have five. We finally got a small increase in foot traffic since we were able to put some of the window signage up. And since then, we've been able to welcome two new tenants. So again, them putting out these A frames is just a small business owner with a pipe dream trying to get people to come in and buy food. So, you know, but I'll let Mike speak.

Good afternoon. I only come to appeal to common sense of downtown trying to make downtown work. It's a struggle just downtown, but they're even more more of a struggle when you go up to the Nolan where this is at the the Cleveland Street Market. It's out of the foot traffic. So they need to try to do everything they can to promote business.

And they did it aesthetically quite well. And as far as the square footage, as she mentioned before, it's 865.3 square feet of window space, 207.6 square feet of signage. So it is under 25%. But I will say that it does go against 50 square feet maximum. The difference is, it's how do you look at that 50 square feet maximum.

And so because I mentioned I've talked to some of the people on staff, and they talked about 50 square feet, I have to agree with them. It says 50 square feet. But at the same time, it's how do you perceive that. Because this building has multiple tenants. If it's one building, 50 square feet might be one thing. But this is multiple tenants, so it has they have to have the opportunity to compete. Now I I did a a local search close to it, and I put this building up. This is right across from the future City Hall.

I don't know if you

can see that or not. Anyway, if you turn it the other way, there you go. There you go. Okay. If you can look at that building, that's one building. And they are all in compliant. They've got permits. They've all done their due diligence. They're in compliant. But if you take that one building and look at it, it's out of compliance because it's more than 50 square feet. The six electrical signs is more than 50 square feet, plus all the other signage that you'll see. But I'm not here to say this building's wrong or this building's right or anything else. As I said, I'm asking for common sense to say this is multiple tenants. This is a large space. This is not just one building that's over 50 square feet.

It does fall underneath 25%, but it is more than 50 square feet. So I'm asking for the Board to look at that and use common sense and say, we want to help downtown survive. We'd like to see this businesses grow. They've got room for more tenants. But if you take away the availability to let people know that there's businesses in this location, all you're gonna do is destroy what they're trying to build, and that we don't need. So I appeal to you to, please use common sense and and how we're reading the actual code. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, can I ask him a question? Yes, sir. Mr. Massacero, you had mentioned the square footage of the windows. What can you explain where that where those numbers came from?

Yeah. I went out and measured every window myself. I have all of them if you want them.

Are you referring to the to the to the front windows that are in the picture? Are you referring to all the windows in

the building? Windows on the 1st Floor in the retail area.

And you have measurements that you made?

I've got there's 17 windows. I can go through each one of them. Each one of them measure, and the total comes up to 865.3.

And then There's a

few if you'll notice on that building, it's like square here, square here, big window. You know, so if you that's all 1st Floor, all retail. So if you get you have to look at it, it's 865.3 square feet.

And then in terms of the signage, how did you base your measurement for that?

We build when we build, we make signs because I'm the one who put the signs up. We bill by the square footage. And the square footage of the signs is the actual vinyl that's used. So for instance, if you'll notice there's not on that particular picture, but

Excuse me. Can I say something? Before you take that picture down, can I just make a comment? That's my client's building. That's five different tenants.

Five different tenants.

Exactly. I just wanted to mention that. Yes, exactly. And it's five different tenants. This

is more than five different tenants.

I understand. But you used that as an example of the excessive signage. I just wanted to make that mention.

Okay. If you'll notice here, like this one block, it's the So the square footage of the blue. Well, without being exact, and I can print all

this out for you,

but if you'll notice the blue is a solid, so that's gonna be completely. But when you notice, like, if you move over to the door where it's the top top logo in Cleveland Street Market, it's not the square that encompasses, it is the actual vinyl that's on the window. There's no other vinyl on that window besides that.

Okay.

So the actual vinyl square footage but, anyway, the actual square footage of the vinyl is two hundred two hundred and seven square feet 200 two zero seven point six.

Okay. And

that's under 25 but it is more than 50. So I'm asking for a variance or whatever, I guess, might call it. But, you know, I just they're a business trying to make it, and, it's aesthetically it's not a it's not a distraction. It's not anything that anybody complains about. It's it's how you look at this one building comparably.

And there's other buildings downtown that are even, you know, different it's art, they call art. So there's a lot of different variances. But anyway, we're talking about this building their livelihood and them trying to be able to rent and fill that place up so we have traffic down there. And I just think that we need to be a little bit lenient and look at this as I see the code and yes, is right, but yet how do you look at it?

Well, thank you for your time.

Thank you.

I'd like to bring out one important facet that nobody probably knows about, about these windows. First off, we welcome your business to downtown. I live downtown. Glad to see you. Okay. Conformity is important with the sinus. That's why we have organs. But the facet you probably don't know about is a safety feature. And I'm going tell you what that is. Whenever you cover up, as much airy as you have with the signage, if you ever had any kind of, emergency like robberies, the police cannot see what's going on when they come up to those doors.

Okay? It's their safety too as well as yours. What they have to be able to see what's going on in there before they enter. That can happen. I'm a former fireman.

I've had to work with the police in another state where I'm from, and I've seen it happen many, many times on kind of signage covering up doors and windows. So it's also a very important safety factor for your benefit and in some way they might have to come in and help you save your life. That's why another reason we have these signed size ordinances. Just consider that. Keep that in mind.

Mr. Chair, I just had one more question was that our notices in this case were directed toward the owner of the property, which is nine forty nine Cleveland Street LLC. I didn't hear anyone say that they were affiliated with that entity. Are you specifically?

We represent. So, we work for NM Residential. They manage all of those businesses. And then the owner of 949 Cleveland Street is Michael Meadors. So, we report to him. So, we're affiliated

with him. Okay.

And then, Mr. Chair, we have someone from planning here. I'd like for them to come up and explain how the signage is measured, because the code does not measure the sign specific to the vinyl and the way that they described it. I'd like the representative from planning to clarify that.

That was one of my questions.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Ted Koczak, Planning and Development. So, focus in on how it's measured, or what are we talking about?

Well, think there in was terms of the measurement and how the square footage would if you could address that first and then maybe address the 50 square foot limitation overall. But if you could just talk about the measurement method first, I think that's important for them to see.

So usually when it's one big block, you measure the outer extents. I guess it's easier with the blue X there, but with negative space, meaning we've already heard about safety,

the

whole point of this code and every other code in the state, pretty much they're all the same, 25 for window signage for safety. And that here we clarify with the groupings, so that allows a little more flexibility grouping together four windows there together counting towards the 25%. So that 25% you're going to find across the state in most jurisdictions. And then how we specifically talk about the 50 square feet is taking that square feet on what we've you know, assuming how the code officer measured, so 50 square feet for all of the window signage signage on a particular facade. So it is my understanding there are two facades we're talking about.

So potentially up to 100 square feet. So but not exceeding all the other, what we just talked about, 25% for the grouping, for the safety, for seeing through, but then on any particular facade line of windows, it doesn't matter how many windows that you cover up as long as you don't exceed 50 square feet. So that and the reason for the 50 square feet, and it's pretty lenient because the sign code does not count them towards if you want to start installing permanent signage. So essentially, you can double dip with the window sign, doesn't need a sign permit, you just you can put it on. And in this case, if it becomes in compliance, there's no signed permit needed.

You just the code officer comes by and inspects it, verifies that it looks like it meets the 25. Any other questions of permanent signage?

Yes. You heard the gentleman's comment where, you know, he was the maker of the sign, so he measured the actual vinyl. But in terms of the code application, does our code say anything? Or what about the blank space between the letters, that sort of thing? Is that

Well, we'll use discretion, but I think it's pretty clear here that a complete blue square, that's going to be counted as the extent.

So you

can't see through that. So if you have a bunch of words up top and below, then, you know, we'll obviously take the experts', you know, verbiage on how that square feet of the actual sign that you can't see through. And the word we like to use in the in the planning department is, like, we won't count the negative area. So negative means the the area that's not being blocked. We for regular signs, we use polygons to measure around each letter.

But when you're talking so many little letters here, I think we're, you know, we're not requiring a signed permit, so we're going to accept reasonable and logical amount of square feet that is being provided, so.

Since they have five tenants right now inside that space, I've been there several times, since they have five tenants, do they get 25% of set of windows for the tenants or not?

It's just per the grouping here, the way it groups. So the number of tenants, it doesn't matter how many tenants, you know, it's based on the square feet and the 25% rule, put them together. So that is a benefit, it doesn't matter you could, you know, just two tenants. You can still go to the max. And then it sounds like they're pretty much on the same page on the sidewalk signage.

Then, like I said, downtown is a little more lenient on signage, so you can double dip. You can go up to permanent signage, 100 square feet on the facades facing the street. So potentially, there could be 150 square feet on each facade. So 100 square feet of that is a permanent sign needs a signed permit and all that stuff, so.

Have a question for Go ahead.

There any other option if we eliminate the window issue, is there any way else to do signage down there that everybody can get advertised? Because they're having difficulty bringing foot traffic in. If we send them away for thirty days to look at other signage options, can you come up with solutions with that?

I think we saw one of them in a photo that there were a number of signs that looks like it's in compliance and their signage already, signed permits and all that. So it's a combination of window signs plus permanent signage, which gets you the maximum double dipping, if you will. So and again, it's safety. Anywhere in the city, safety is the key. So that's why the 25% rule is there.

And back to the two of you, would you be willing to work with the city over the next thirty days to try to see if

you can come up

with signage?

Most definitely,

like I've been explaining for the last year or so, we have been trying our best to work alongside with city. I'm pretty sure that the past conversation that we've just had here, it kind of shows up the window signage situation is a little bit confusing, know, in regards to the lettering and the negative space like he had mentioned. I also do want to emphasize the fact that although these pictures kind of bring emphasis to the windows that are covered, if you look at the space right here, there are many windows that aren't covered in general. We just wanted to provide photos of what we were here to debate about. Again, you know, we would never ever want to put anyone in a situation where safety was a concern, which is the reason why we have so many extra windows that we didn't even dare to touch.