Code Enforcement Board - Regular Meeting

good afternoon welcome to tonight's miami shores village code enforcement meeting presided by chair huber the board members present at this hearing are all volunteers residents of miami shores village and your neighbors the board is charged with enforcing the code and are interested in compliance with the code villages the village staff is represented today by mr michael orta along with the rest of the staff who will be present for all cases and hearings on behalf of the village. The village recording secretary is Ms. Elizabeth Vasquez, who is responsible for ensuring that you are properly checked in and also to record today's proceeding. At this time, please ensure that you have checked in with Ms. Vasquez. My name is Jose Arango, and I'm the attorney representing the village in today's hearing. I am present as counsel to the village, but I will not be prosecuting the cases this evening unless needed by the Code Enforcement Department. I will briefly explain what will happen at tonight's hearing so that you all understand how the hearing works. There are three different types of hearings that will be heard tonight. The first hearing, the penalty hearing, and the request for relief. The first hearing is for persons who have been issued a notice of violation, and this is your first time coming on that notice of violation. And the issue that will be addressed is whether or not there's a violation of the code. The chair will call each case by the address. If it is your case, please come up to the podium and speak directly into the little black box in order for your testimony to be properly recorded. If you dispute the violation, the chair will inquire whether you agree there is a violation on your property or should the village present evidence to adjudicate whether there is an actual violation. If you dispute the charge, the village will then present its evidence, including any photographs of the violation and provide testimony of the violation. You have the right to cross-examine the village code officer about any testimony. You will then have the opportunity to present your case to the board and present any relevant evidence. The village officer and the board may also question you as well. The board will then adjudicate the case by a majority vote and assign a deadline for compliance. The second type of hearing is a penalty hearing. This second type of hearing is for persons who have already been through their first hearing and have been given a due date to correct the violation. The primary issue to be determined by the board is whether or not the deadline for compliance was abided by. If the violation has not been cured before the deadline, the board will impose fines and issue an order which may be recorded as a lien. If you maintain that you did cure the violation on time or if you wish to request more time, the board may hear your testimony. Third type of hearing is a request for relief. This type of hearing is for persons who have already had the first and second hearing and have an order against them which has accrued fines. This is not an appeal process or a settlement negotiation. In this regard, the board will only vote on one proposal per applicant per meeting. As a result of this procedural rule, at some point during the hearing, the chair will ask you a final question. Is this your best and final offer? You can raise or lower the amount offered to settle the fines, but once the board votes on a number, that is the only number that will be considered. At this time, anybody who will be giving testimony in tonight's hearing, please raise your right hand. Please stand and raise your right hand. Anybody who will be giving or expects to give testimony. Okay. All right. Do you swear to solemnly tell the truth and nothing but the truth? Thank you. You may sit down.

All right, thank you for coming to this evening's code enforcement board hearing. This board is empowered to hear evidence in order to reach findings of fact and conclusions of law for the purpose of resolving cases that come before us. Finding of a violation in any case before us may lead to costs being assessed and a daily fine being levied for violations of the village's code of ordinances. This board is always interested in comments or statements That will help us make a determination in each case, and we are always interested in compliance rather than levying fines. If you have not already done so, please come forward and give your name to the clerk so that we may know you are here. If there is no objection, we will consider at one time all cases involving the same piece of property. Madam Clerk, would you call roll?

Board Member Buenconcejo? Present. Board Member Berryman? Here. Board Member Han?

Here.

Board Member Furr?

Here.

Board Member Rodriguez? Here. Chair Huber?

Here. All right. Madam Clerk, is anyone present for first hearing?

No, sir.

All right. At this time, Chair reserves that there have been no appearance by anyone on behalf of the alleged violators in connection with case numbers 0726276, 0726284, case 0726285, case 01257, case 0626231. Case 0626251. Case 0626258. Case 0726310. Case 1225385. Case 0524289. All right. Mr. Director, do the files on these cases... These matters contain affidavits attesting to the existence of the code violations alleged and demonstrating proper notice to the alleged violator of tonight's hearing.

They do, Mr. Chair.

All right. At this time, I will now entertain a motion for summary adjudication.

I move for summary adjudication of all such cases to include a finding of fact and a conclusion of law that a violation exists as charged in the respective notice of violations issued therein and that in each such case the offending party shall correct the violation within the time period specified by staff in the staff recommendations for these hearings and immediately notify the code enforcement officer when the property is brought back into compliance. In each such case, if the violation is not brought into compliance within such time period, the code enforcement officer may report this fact back to the board in accordance with the board's rules and regulations at which time a fine is hereby authorized to be automatically assessed against the violator in the respective daily amounts specified in staff's recommendation for tonight's hearing retroactive to the original compliance deadline which will constitute a lien on the property of the violator. Further, with respect to each such case, costs in the amount specified in staff's recommendation for tonight's hearing are hereby assessed in order to recoup the village's expenses in prosecuting the violations to date.

Do I have a second? Second. Second by Rod. Madam Clerk, would you call roll?

Board Member Rodriguez? Yes. Board Member Hahn? Yes. Board Member Berryman? Yes. Board Member Buenconcejo? Yes. Board Member Furrer? Yes. Chair Huber?

Yes. All right. Do we have anyone present for enforcement?

No, sir.

All right. Also on tonight's agenda is a matter of staff's request for orders imposing previously adjudicated fines as a penalty for a lack of timely compliance with the Board's prior orders. I will now call the penalty cases. 0725214. Mr. Director, do the files of all these penalty cases contain an appropriate affidavit demonstrating in each such case that the violations referenced in your request continue to exist subsequent

to the date on which they were to be corrected in accordance with the previous orders of this board and that to date no one has contacted code enforcement to advise that these violations have been corrected they do and they have not all right i will now entertain a motion to impose fines mr chair they move that in its case currently remaining on the penalty docket for tonight's hearing it's respected by later the order to pay the daily fine previously adjudicated and authorized to be imposed against them by prior order of the board. Retroactive from the day the violation was to have been corrected. That upon recording, the board's order and disregard will constitute a lien on the property of the violator.

Do I have a second? Second. All right, second by Mr. Berryman. Madam Clerk, would you call roll?

All right if you would approach the dais and state your name and address for the record I

Sure. My name is John Hicks. My address is 1131 Northeast 104th Street.

All right. All right, perfect. So we're here for 1131 Northeast 104th Street, case 1023382, advertising and renting property as a short-term rental. The fine amount is $104,225. Please explain why we should accept your offer. Yes. Sorry, the amount proposed is $3,000. Please explain why we should accept your offer. Yes.

Thank you for those of you who have heard me previously. I'm gonna add a little more context just for those who are hearing me for the first time. I wanna explain a little bit about the story. So I purchased this property, well one, I've been in Miami for 22 years and one of my Miami dreams has been to have a property on the water. So this is my dream home that I purchased back in 2022 from Mr. and Mrs. Mueller. So during that time period, Mr. and Mrs. Mueller had a tenant. And so they had a tenant because they were going through a divorce. It was COVID. And the lease that they put the tenant under was two years. And so when I purchased the property, I inherited a tenant. The tenant, even during that time, was a difficult tenant. And I was lucky because I'm a single guy. I was saving up money to live in my Miami dream house. And it was indeed the cheapest house in all of Miami-Dade County because of how challenging and difficult it was. It was to see the property and the condition of the property. So the property had dock damage, which you actually have cited me for. It had a number of damage. It had a stripper pole in the middle of the house. It was a very challenging house to sell. But again, I share the context with you is that this was my dream house. And as a single guy, this is what I could afford at the time. And so I said, okay, well, I'm going to inherit this tenant. So I inherited the tenant. And his lease, and I actually contacted lawyers, I have evidence of this, to try to get him out of the house. And the lawyers were like, no, you have to honor the lease until the end of the lease. So the lease was up November 1st, and he, November 1st of 2023. So because that was the holidays, right, coming up into the holiday period, he asked me to please give him an extension because he wanted to stay there with his family and not be kicked out during the holiday time. So He actually left the property January of 2024. So from January to 2024 until now, it's been empty. The one thing I wanted to mention and the reason you'll notice that the property, and the reason I mentioned the issues, the stripper pole and all that, in the doc was because I needed to put the property in the LLC. So you can imagine the things that were happening in the property and my personal liability. So you'll notice that for my dream home, I had to put it in the LLC because of the types of things that were happening there. So that's the Adrian Machi you see on the paperwork versus my own personal name. Otherwise, I would have loved to have it in my own personal name. So fast forward. So I've done everything I can to start to get the house prepared to make it my dream property. So if you'll notice that there's been applications for the dock repair. So that has gone through engineering. It's gone through all the things that has been implemented and has been employed. The other thing I wanted to mention that I didn't mention before, which is ironic, is that one of the violations was because of short-term rental, if you'll notice that. So up until May of this year, I have a new role now, but up until May this year, for the past six and a half years, I'm the global HR head of HR for Airbnb Corporation and also the chief advisor to the co-founder of the company. So there's no way that I would have knowingly and could even under my employment at that time tolerate having that violation or my entire employment would have been in jeopardy in the role that I had. So I wanted to really voice it out to make it clear that I didn't just ignore a notice that was sent that was there. I did not know that that had happened. So how I found out was I was in the process of of trying to refinance the property for the purposes of renovating the property and making it into the home that I wanted to make it. Subsequently, and there's documentation of this, I have filed permits through the counties and through the city. I've even come through the planning board to get pre-approval for improvements as well. And so when I went to refinance the property, that's when I found out that there was a lien on the property because of these past violations. And so ever since April, Elizabeth and Michael are probably tired of talking to me and seeing me, but they will probably testify that we have talked almost every month since April about this issue. So again, I just wanted to let you know that this is not something that I took lightly, and based on my behavior that hopefully they will attest to, and as much as they're tired of seeing me, that is something that I was not ignoring or something that I was just dismissing along the way. And so that's kind of the reason I'm asking for relief was because it wasn't something that I truly knew about. And as I mentioned, and truly, because of my own employment, I would have not been allowed to continue. I would have had to rectify it immediately given my situation. So that's why I'm asking for relief.

All right, so you don't currently live there?

I don't because ironically, I'm following the permit process and that has taken a long time. So I've gone through like sanitation, engineering, all the full process. And so ironically, I have a multi-million dollar house that's sitting empty because I am trying to follow the correct processes. So I've not lived in the house because I haven't been able to do the work because the permits are not in it. So that's why it's in. Okay.

And you're looking to refinance the property?

Looking to refinance the property. And obviously a barrier to doing that is the lien that's on the property as well. And so the goal is to get the money out of the property and then invest that in what's supposed to be my dream home and me living in it. So right now I'm living in Aventura, but that's the deal.

When did you purchase that house?

It was purchased in 2022 in September. It was actually closed on my birthday, 22nd.

And you purchased that under your name, not the LLC original?

No, I had to purchase it under the LLC just because of the circumstances of the tenant and then all the things that were going on and the dock damage and all the parties and things that were happening.

Okay, so you never received any of the notices?

I did not receive the notice.

So the reason why you didn't receive the notices is your LLC has the address of record as the house. Oh. So the mail went to the tenant. Gotcha, gotcha. So next time, do an address where you can always change your LLC address later. For sure. Yeah, I mean, because that's part of the thing. So if the tenant was out January 2024, I mean, we're looking at a significantly lower number because you obviously didn't know for two years and a couple months. about the running fine right but the tenant we can assume the tenant was out january 2024 the tenant created the situation i mean you're you know as the owner of the property you're still responsible for it but as far as the number we would look at we you know i i think you know we're looking at a number that's at least half that number of the 104 more realistic Have you started construction at all, or are you still going through?

I'm literally waiting on the final health permits, and I have proof of all that.

What's your expected completion?

So there's a lot, they're asking for last sanitation, excuse me, not sanitation, the underneath the house, the septics. They're asking for septic details and then once I get those clear from the architect. I have architects and all sorts of things. So once they clear that, they'll clear that and then hopefully.

But when are you anticipating the construction time period? I'm hoping. Six months, three months, a year?

It'll probably be six to eight months.

Six to eight months, okay. I have renderings on my phone, yes.

I have renderings on my phone, all the things, again, so.

All right. Does anyone else have any questions or comments?

Yes. Go ahead, Barry. I'd just like staff's input. Is this your case, Mike?

It started with the previous director, Mr. Remond, yes. But I'm familiar with the property in the case.

Was it picked up on the automated? Or did we have a complaint?

Oh, we had several complaints. Okay. Yes, sir.

And the other question is for the village attorney. Am I correct in remembering that you have to apply for occupational license to rent or register with the village?

At the time, yes.

So if Mr. Hicks had done that, we would have his correct address and he would have gotten the notices. Maybe.

Yeah, it depends on what information he would have put on there.

Right. There you go. Okay.

Hopefully, yeah.

That catches a lot of people. They don't realize if you're renting a house, even if it's your own personal residence, you have to register with the village. And frequently, that's an opportunity to make sure we have your contact information.

Yeah, I definitely do. In 2023, I think it was. I think it's more now.

It's a lot cheaper than...

That's all my question if I could ask a question just so that would that so every even if even though it was an inheritance Just question

Go ahead. Just a quick question. Maybe I missed something here. I'm just wondering, you bought the house, right, by yourself? Yes, I did. I'm just wondering, when you bought this, do you have the insurance that will check if there is a lien in the house?

Yeah, so at the time, I did do a title search when I purchased the house. There wasn't, at that time, because when the...

It was still rented.

Yeah, it was still rented, and then when I did the title search, it was clear. And so on the notice of the violation, it was given to the tenant during the period of time.

But the violation occurred a year after the purchase. Yeah, exactly. So it didn't come up on his title search.

Okay, thank you. So, Mike, I'm not trying to poke you in the eye because I'm certainly not doing that because I understand you were understaffed back then and you were going through an administrative change, good, bad, or indifferent, or ugly. My question is... If the notice of violations or the notification was going to this address and you weren't getting a response, theoretically, wouldn't someone go out there to find out if the home was occupied or if the person was getting the mail? I'm just trying to figure that out because obviously it's set for over 24 months. Right? It's set empty?

Well, it's set empty from the November 1st when the tenant moved out until now.

Okay. Just to answer your question, we follow procedure chapter 162. Due process of law. We post property and that's it.

It's up to them to respond in the affirmative or.

Whether they receive it or not, there's no way to follow through to see if they got it?

Even I myself would go to the property after a complaint, and someone would be home, but they would never go to the door.

Okay. And no reason to, because it's obviously the tenant. It's not their problem. It's not their problem. Okay, just wanted to address that, yeah. Just for the record.

And Mike, I know the fee structure changed from 2023. The current fee structure for the Airbnb is $2,500 first offense and $5,000 for second offense?

I believe so, yes. But just to mention also that for single-family homes, we will not give you a business tax receipt license to rent a property under the platform of Airbnb because you're a single family. Now, if you were a commercial, like, say, an apartment building or a condo, there you can.

the parking map and oh yeah there was a way but it was quite an involved way to do it the correct way and a renter can't do it anyway so they don't okay um any other questions or comments all right hearing none we have a oh sorry i was on i was not on mic hopefully i'm loud enough to be heard So let's just say a fine amount of $11,000. The amount proposed is $3,000. Is that your best and final offer? Yes, it is. All right. And how long would you need to pay? Immediately. 30 days?

As fast as you would like the money.

30 days. Okay. So the amount proposed is $3,000 payable in 30 days. Do I have a motion?

I move to accept.

All right. Do I have a second? All right, second by Mr. Berryman. Madam Clerk, would you call roll?

Board Member Hahn?

Yes.

Board Member Rodriguez? Yes. Board Member Berryman? Yes. Board Member VanConsejo?

No.

Board Member Per?

No.

Chair Huber?

Yes. It should be three to two, right? Yes. Yes. Okay, so it approved? Or was it three negatives?

Uh-huh.

There's six of us, yeah. So what was the vote count? Four to two and affirmative? Okay, perfect. All right, so the motion carried. Thank you very much. So you won't be able to get the estoppel letter until at least the end of next week. All right, okay. Thank you. All right.

Have a good day.

All right, Madam Clerk, do we have any other business? I see a couple attendees.

Yes, we have some residents would like to say public comment.

Public comments, okay. We can definitely do that. Who's here for public comment? Two people? All right, let's do first row to second row. All right, if you would state your name and address for the record.

My name is Frank Montiel, 1330 Northeast 105th Street.

All right, sir. And what would you like to discuss with us today?

I'm the president of the Condominium Association, where 14 units are located. And some of the individuals here are owners or residents in that same building. And the reason I'm here after work and you gentlemen are here, and I thank you for being here, you know, you're volunteering, is because we've had an issue with – disturbing the peace and quiet of the neighborhood. We live in Miami Shores and we live on a canal and it's extremely peaceful usually. It's dead quiet and usually around 9, 10 o'clock at night there are two dogs directly across the canal and they commence to start barking in unison and it's not Once, it's not twice, it's throughout the night. And it's kind of hard to explain, but it's begun to affect all of us. I work during the day. I like to sleep at night, deep sleep. And 1.45 in the morning, two dogs barking for 15 minutes. 2.15, 2.35, 4.15, 5 a.m. And we have video. We've taken video of it. We spoke with Kerry. We contacted and we even did a little bit of research to find out what the noise ordinance was. And I broke it down. Miami-Dade County does have a noise ordinance against that type of disturbing of the peace. And it's basically affected all of us. Rebecca's a nurse. Her husband, they sleep at night now with headphones on. I sleep with my TV on 27 just to drown out the noise. And recently, Joe is also an owner of one of the units. went over to speak to the owners of the home. And this all commenced sometime in February. Before that, I'd been living in the apartment for more than five years, never had an issue, but sometime in February, two new dogs arrived. We didn't have an issue at first, but as they began exploring the property across the canal, they learned about the dock, and it's like two little hot dogs. So they go out to the dock, they start staring at the water, they see the waves move, and they start barking, one, then the other one, and the other one. It's kind of interesting because We started discussing that the dogs leaning over the edge of the canal, these aren't outdoor dogs. These are indoor dogs, type like lap dogs. They've been living outside for over seven months. We discussed maybe two weeks ahead of it that there could be a little bit of danger because they're scooting underneath the barricade and they were going out to the canal. The other night I looked, maybe a month ago, And there were three police officers one of them was in the water balancing himself on the ladder underneath the dock trying to rescue the dog to others with flashlights trying to hold the ladder. And the neighbors from the. houses on the sides it wouldn't be an issue if it was just small houses and the dog barks and the sound would travel but because I live in a three-story building the house they just built across from me is brand new in two stories and the building to our right is two stories When the dog comes out to the dock and starts barking, the other one meets him, begins to bark. Three minutes this guy, two minutes this guy, and it echoes across. If you allow me to, I have a video. It's short. It's about a minute.

You already have a copy of this? I sent it to Carrie. If staff has it for record, then you can show it to them. Do we know the address of the property?

Yes, it's 1361. This is at 3 in the morning.

1361 what?

Northeast 104th Street.

Okay.

It's the only noise. We hear Biscayne traffic, but it's throughout the night, and it's like maybe 15 times starting at 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

So these animals just live outside? Pardon me? These dogs just live outside? They're not in the house at all?

Yeah, I think they live outside. Now, I do want to state, I tried to speak to the owners of the house. I saw them on the dock, so... I said, hey, I'm across the canal. But I kind of learned from what I got that she was Brazilian and she spoke Portuguese. I speak Spanish. So I did my best to try to communicate that the dogs were barking. And she nodded her head, and that was the end of that. The dogs continued to bark. So maybe two other times I was able to speak with her. I was as courteous and as polite as possible because I don't want any bad blood with any of my neighbors. So what I ended up doing after I spoke to her a couple times, nothing got resolved. I used Google Translate to write a one-page letter, really kind and polite. I said, dear neighbor, I'm a member of the board across. I've received complaints. It's beautiful living out here. We have concerns about the safety of the dogs, and we want to make sure that everybody in the neighborhood is happy, but the dog's barking at 3 a.m. It's beginning to disturb, and I've received a few complaints. If there's anything you can do, if you could please be kind enough to do it, it would be appreciated. I put my name and my phone number. I taped it to the door. I never received a response. Several weeks later, with no change, I contacted Miami-Dade County, and I spoke to Kerry. And Rebecca and I, we also spoke because they live right next to me. And there are six other neighbors that live underneath us. They weren't able to attend, but they gave me their statements and signed their affidavit of what's going on. And Joe was kind enough to, because he's from Brazil, and he was able to go over there and he was able to speak to them And there is some type of resolution in effect. They said that they would put the dogs away at 10.30 at night, but that's been broken up. Some nights yes, some nights no. So that started, Joe was able to find a common ground with them about, what was it, three weeks ago? Yeah, August 12th. So we're hoping and we're praying because we don't, I don't want to be here, and I definitely don't want them to be fined. All I want is just to be able to sleep throughout the night. And I can understand if six months go by and the dog barks ten times, but it's ten times a night over six months. It's been over 200 days. It's wearing me thin, and I know it's wearing Rebecca thin. And there's several people that didn't show up. They couldn't. One is Mary. She lives underneath. Rebecca, because she's elderly. I had Jan and Stephanie, his girlfriend. They live underneath me, and they weren't able to show up because they went to Croatia. They just got back, and they're overwhelmed with work. I thank you all for your time, and whatever decision you gentlemen decide, I'm good with it.

All right. Let's hold your question. Let's have the other people that wanted to say something, and then we'll...

All right, good evening to everyone. Thank you kindly.

Please state your name and address for the record.

My name is Joe. It's actually Joseph Guilherme Aiken. Call me Joe. And I paid a visit to the residence. I met Mario. Mario is the father of the property owner, okay? He had just arrived coincidentally from Brazil. And I understand that these dogs may have come from Brazil, okay? And they were used to being outside all night, you know, bark at everything that moves. And I know from my personal experience that, I convinced my mother's caretaker, who had a dog, to keep it in his house at night and he would be quiet. It worked for us because I couldn't sleep when I was visiting last Christmas. It worked, to give you some background. He agreed and he said, okay, we're going to make an experiment. We're going to try to bring the dogs inside at night. And hopefully there won't be this problem. Obviously, if they're near the owners, they shouldn't be barking. But when they're outside on their own, they will bark at anything, right? So it's a question, I think, of Miami Shores letting these folks know. And I'm surprised because... I told Mario, there's going to be a hearing. You're going to be here? He says, yes, of course we're going to be here. Your daughter's going to be here? Because I didn't meet her that day. And she speaks five languages, not just Portuguese. He only speaks Portuguese. So I don't see them here. What's going on? Weren't they invited to the meeting as well? I'm not sure. I know we used you as an ally, Mike, but... didn't take effect. So I think we would appreciate Miami Shores making certain that they are on notice, that there could be a solution if the dogs are held inside and don't make noise at night. Because I know I live further east. I don't hear it. But my neighbors in Harbor Clubville hear it too. And we have recordings of that. I don't think we've submitted it, but we have them if you want them. All right? So we greatly appreciate your help to make a statement and make certain they're aware. That's all I have to say.

All right. Thank you. Does anyone else want to make a statement? Okay. Please state your name and address for the record.

My name is Rebecca Sherwood. I reside at 1330 Northeast 105th Street. Okay. I'm just going to read this because it's just much easier for me. I'm submitting this statement on behalf of myself, my husband, and everyone who lives in the building. regarding an ongoing noise disturbance caused by two dachshunds living at 1361 Northeast 104th Street. This probably began in late February, early March, and has continued for over six months despite repeated complaints and numerous attempts to resolve it. Beginning in March, the dogs were kept outside 24 hours a day and would frequently get under the fence onto the dock. The barking routinely began between 9 and 9.30 p.m. like clockwork, lasting at least 30 minutes to more than one hour, and frequently occurred throughout the night, midnight, 1 a.m., 2, 3, 4, didn't matter, sometimes lasting until 6.30 a.m. The longest episode that I have documented lasted two and a half hours and started at 4 a.m. The dogs continued living outside throughout the summer during record heat waves, severe storms, with no one home. Because the property faces an entire street of condominiums and townhomes across the canal, the barking travels over the water and echoes off the buildings, making it especially loud and disruptive to residents on our side. Some of our attempts. In April, I began to calling Miami Shores Police non-emergency number during the overnight barking episodes, because that's what I found online. And I was repeatedly told by them that it was a code compliance matter, that they would not dispatch anyone. Then in April, my other neighbors and I repeatedly contacted code compliance. After numerous calls and no resolution, I directly came to this building and spoke with Carrie. In June, and I did that in June, to file a complaint to speak to an officer because after dozens of phone calls, none of us had ever been called back. I was then informed that code compliance works from 8 to 5 and therefore could not witness the overnight barking. I gave him video recordings. I still continuously text him video recordings of the barking. And I was instructed to call police after hours because they were supposed to respond to non-emergency issues. Every time I called the non-emergency number, I was told they could not respond and that I needed to call code compliance. So it was a cyclical problem. This left residents caught between two departments and nothing happened. Concerns regarding the dogs living outside were also reported to Miami-Dade County in August for potential abuse. The county investigated and closed the animal welfare matter after determining the dogs had food and water and that they could not say that a dog could not live outside 24-7. Some ways that we have tried to resolve this on our own. On May 29th, our building president, Frank Montiel, who has said he went to the residence, he spoke to someone, realized they didn't speak English, used Google Translate, wrote them a nice letter. No response. On August 8th, one of the dogs fell into the canal under the neighbor's dock where they had to call the police department. and have it rescued. The police department put the dog back in their yard. Obviously, nobody was home. Took all of their chairs and barricaded the fence so that the dogs couldn't get back out on the dock. Now, I've also witnessed these dogs on the dock. And there's three inches of concrete that they can go. And I almost saw one fall in, but he actually backed up so he didn't fall in. But eventually, we're now having dogs fall in canals with nobody around. Those dogs that night probably barked for two hours straight because they were barking before Brad and I went to dinner. And when we came back is when we saw the cops pulling the dog out of the canal. On August 12, Joe went and spoke to Mario and explained the continuous problem. Mario agreed to begin keeping the dogs crated in the garage at night. After that conversation, the dogs began to be kept in the garage most nights, and the overnight barking significantly improved. This demonstrates that the disturbance can be controlled when reasonable measures are taken. Officer Carey has also had multiple conversations with the owners regarding the barking over the last few months. Unfortunately, the problem is not fully resolved. The dogs continue to occasionally bark during the day on several evenings between 9 and 10 p.m., with episodes lasting at least 20 minutes to one hour. On Tuesday night, they started at 8.50, and it was 9.35 before they finished barking. I myself have been sleeping in noise-canceling headphones, which doesn't drown them out. You have to put white noise as well, for the past six months. Noise ordinances. Miami-Dade County Section 21-28C prohibits frequent, habitual, or long-continued animal noises plainly audible at 100 feet. It defines this as barking for more than 30 minutes or during these separate periods exceeding 15 minutes each within three consecutive days. The barking we have documented has repeatedly met and exceeded these standards. Miami Shores Village also prohibits frequent or continued animal noise between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when plainly audible at 100 feet, section 15-103a. Further prohibits unreasonably excessive noise from a property and expressly includes an animal as a sound source. This is not about an occasional or normal dog barking. It is about the frequency, the duration, the persistence, and the night timing of a disturbance that has affected multiple residents for over six months. The substantial improvement after the dogs are finally brought into the garage demonstrates that it can be controlled. But what we are simply asking is for a lasting and enforceable resolution so that the surrounding residents can peacefully use and enjoy their homes and sleep without repeated disruption.

All right. Thank you very much. So the first thing is what the dispatch is telling you is patently false. So I suggest you contact the chief of police and the mayor and have a discussion with them because it's incorrect. The police are supposed to respond to those calls, very specifically supposed to respond to those calls. Also, I would contact animal control again because the dog falling into the canal happened after animal control closed the case. So I would pressure them to start a new case as well. It really just depends on how unneighborly you want to be, how far you push it. The other thing that I personally can suggest is I had a yippy dog and we got a citronella collar Yeah, the citronella collar, as soon as they bark, it sprays citronella in their face, and they stop barking immediately. No, you can't, but you can suggest it to them if they're going to leave the dogs outside. It's something that you can suggest if you want to be more friendly. It's just something that I've run into in the past, and it works swimmingly. Yeah, well, and the citronella collar works in the same way. It just doesn't give them shocks or anything like that. It just literally sprays just a little like that, not in their face because it goes out like this. So it's a little bit more humane. Well, they're not on the docket. Do we have a case for them, Kerry? Yeah. okay and it's is it scheduled for next month or okay so so yeah so i i would also uh stress anybody that wanted to come back that their case will come up if they show up to be here for that you know so that you can add testimony during the actual case um Do you know the code off the top of your head that you've cited them for? And is it like a $50 a day fine that would go on if it's not resolved? It's $50 a day? Okay.

It's a noise ordinance.

No, I know it's a noise ordinance, just if he knew the exact code section. Yeah, so our hands are kind of tied. As you see, people come here with $104,000 fines sitting on their house with a lien and everything. So that is, for the most part, the vast extent of our enforceability. So what will happen is if they don't resolve it, it will be a $50 a day fine, and it will put a lien on not just that property but all the other properties in the county that they may or may not own. That's why my primary suggestion is that you have a meeting with the police chief and the mayor That's their job and they should be going out for those calls. Yeah, but your primary avenue of resolution is contacting law enforcement to come out and have it shut down. Yeah, well, you know, the dispatch, I... run into dispatch telling me similar things for different cases, and it's just not the truth. Well, I mean, if they have a case, they've already received a posted letter telling them that they have to come. Did they get a courtesy notice first or no? They went straight to a notice of violation. So they got a notice of violation. It would have been posted on the property. They would have had a set amount to cure it. They're going to come to the next meeting if they obviously don't cure it. And then if they don't come to the meeting – then or if they do come to the meeting there'll be an enforcement period where they're given another month to rectify it and then so that's our second hearing that you heard this morning I mean this evening so we had the first hearing which is a notice of violation then the second hearing is the enforcement order so that comes the next month after that so We're at least two months away from running a fine to them. But it goes retroactive. So it goes back to the first day, which I'm going to assume it was sometime earlier in August, I'm guessing, when you first did the case. So the case started in August. And it'll start racking up. I believe it got a little better.

And we're not here to make Miami George make you guys money. We're here just because we want peace and quiet. And it's not a couple of us. There's people here. Well, I would keep my eyes on the agenda for... Yeah.

Yeah. No, and as far as the Code Enforcement Board, we specifically aren't here for punitive. We're here to fix people's problems. The neighbor next door has got a three-foot-tall grass yard. I don't want to live next to that. We've got yippy dogs across the canal. We want them fixed. We don't want people to have to spend money to fix it. So this is where we're at. So I would keep my eye on next month's agenda. And you'll see the address in the agenda posted on a PDF file. It looks just like this. It'll be Carrie's section, right? And it'll have the address. So you just look for that. And if it's on there, attend the meeting with as many people as you can.

On the Randy Shores website? Yes. Okay.

Can I ask you? Yeah. Barry chimed in first, and then... Go ahead, Barry.

I had a question for Frank. Where were you standing when you made that recording that you played for us?

Oh, that actually. Oh, that was in Harbor Club Village.

Like, were you in your house, or were you on the dock?

Oh, this is a neighbor's videotape shared with my wife. Oh, okay. And she shared it with a friend.

So you don't know where?

Oh, we know exactly where it was.

Okay, but you don't know if they were, like, in their house?

No, this is across. No, no, he's saying the person recording.

Were they standing right outside their sliding glass door? Were they inside the house?

There are two houses across the canal in front of our building.

That video where you hear the dog barking is the neighboring buildings, which are townhouses. Down the road.

Just trying to get an idea of.

Yeah, I have videos I've taken on my own.

Yeah, that led to another suggestion that I had written down here, and this is just mainly for having additional evidence and everything, is to borrow or purchase an inexpensive dB meter so that you know exactly. Yeah, a dB meter, it tells you how loud it actually is.

You can get them on Amazon first.

It's loud. yeah but if you if you can if you record that like the image of that while recording the sound then there won't be any dispute like oh they've artificially increased the audio in the thing or or yeah yeah yeah so that that would be another suggestion just to have additional ammunition when it comes down to it

oh Kerry definitely I can tell he doesn't not believe you before you go he has one question before you go my question is directed at you Joe so obviously from the testimony I know it's open comment obviously several tenants several of the folks that live across the canal have attempted to speak to this person obviously from the story I gathered you attempted Frank And then you attempted, and you were told that she doesn't speak anything that you can understand. Yet Joe says she speaks five different languages.

No, no, no, different person.

I spoke to the person I saw there.

Understood.

Joe's referring to the daughter, and then Joe also happens to go there when the father was there.

Okay, so then... I met the father. So you met the father.

I didn't meet the daughter who's the owner of the property.

And the father's visiting.

No, he's going to be here until October.

Okay, so he's a semi-permanent person there. And so it got addressed at some point, but it got lost in translation. I mean, no, I'm not trying to be funny.

I don't know. Maybe he realized.

Well, obviously, they don't feel it's a priority.

I think our bigger issue here is getting our police to do what they're supposed to be doing. So there's not anything we can do right now. No, no, I know that.

But I'm saying he spoke to somebody there. Oh, he did. And they've done their due diligence.

But, I mean, it's our police department.

Yeah, you can't say they weren't nice, right? So now it's time to contact the chief of police and the mayor. I actually thought they were going to be here.

You've only called Miami-Dade County one time And you've gotten the reference for that every time you call Miami-Dade should have been your reference number Every time you said we do not respond to that you have to call Miami-Dade

No, no, he's talking about when you call animal control.

I spoke with the, I did non-anonymous. I was like, I want to know what's going on. So they went and talked to them and then left a note on the door because they're rarely ever there. Then he said, you need to call us back because we need to do this investigation because many people have complained. And then he called me back like a week later and he said, look, the property's clean. They have food. They have water. There's no signs of abuse. He's like, I can't do anything, but he's like, keep calling Miami Shores Compliance. This is all Miami Shores Compliance.

Yeah, but as far as them getting out of the property and into the water, you know, that's already, so they have a barrier issue.

Miami Shores Police Department should have called. They should have. They should have never put the dog back in their yard.

It should have been because, theoretically, Miami-Dade County Canal, right?

Miami Shores Police Department

You did. Kerry, you had something you wanted to say, and then Mike.

So the owner of the property, Elizabeth Royce.

Sorry, Kerry. What happened to our mic over here?

You didn't want him that close?

You don't want to share?

You're not sharing?

Get a mobile mic.

No sharing? All right, Kerry, go ahead. So the owner of the property, Elizabeth Royce, I've spoken to her. She does speak English, perfect English, actually. She has taken some steps to remedy this, bark collar, and so on. She is moving the dogs into the garage to try to take care of the dogs barking at all night. Other than that, you know, that's all I have at this moment. I'm actually, I'm supposed to meet with her tomorrow. Okay. As far as the remedies, and that's why she's not on the agenda now. Okay. So she's taking steps is what I'm saying.

Yeah, she's in contact. She's in theory working with you. You're seeing something.

I'm keeping the case open. Yeah. You know, because obviously Rebecca, Frank, the homeowners are texting me videos, you know, all throughout the night, 1, 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. But as they can attest, it's gotten better. Because she is making efforts. So again, that's why the case is open. It's not on the agenda now. But obviously, if the activity does continue, it's on the agenda for next month. So that's where we're at.

Mike, you had something?

Thank you, Kerry.

Yeah, and I just wanted to remind everyone present that this case is very unique and it's sensitive because, as the board knows, as long as a violation exists, then that's where we go ahead and provide, well, we go through the procedure. We lien the property. But then you're stuck with a barking dog. The Code Compliance Department does not remove the violation. In this case, the dog, we can't go on private property and take the person's dog. So what we try to do is communicate. And I can tell you, this case has been given the utmost importance because it's been across my desk many times. Kerry, you know, he comes to my door and he just looks at me and I said, it's about the dog. So he tells me what's going on. He keeps me abreast of it. And believe me, like I was telling this gentleman here earlier, I can attest to how you feel because I've dealt with it for 30 years where I live. That's another story.

I'm not ready to move.

I just can't live like this.

No, we understand, but we're tied to the code and the procedure. And we try, and we really do. And some residents, you know, they listen. Some residents don't.

Yeah, we don't want to do that either. It may be the only thing they pay attention to.

It will be their decision in the first place. Because they're in action in non-cooperation. Mr.

Chair, we can do irreparable, replaceable. Not you. Irreparable? Yeah, that's a steep one.

We have to have the first one first.

Yeah, that's right.

It was 50-50.

We had some improvement, but it wasn't enough.

This is just general antisocial behavior, unfortunately.

And we have to give everyone the chance to comply. We got to go through the whole process. And I get it.

I get it.

Rod, did you have something?

No, I just have a quick note about this case because I remember, I don't know, 10 years or 15 years ago, we had the same case. I don't know, I'm sure it's not this case, but it also, dog barking, they bring us here, the tape, everything. So my suggestion is, I don't know, what was the resolution at the time? Maybe this is a precedent that we can, Do the same. I don't know. Do we still have the records of the previous cases that we have?

Yes, sir.

Okay. I don't know what happened to that. I know that there was a resolution, but maybe we can retrieve and base them there. Maybe that's our guidelines also, what we're going to do. It was the same case, exactly the same. I forgot how many years, 15 years or 15 years ago. Yeah, but it's not this case, probably, because that was a long time ago. I served in this board for 27 years, so.

It's very common in foreign countries, like I'm from Costa Rica, Joe is from Brazil. We hunt animals outside in the park, and we like that because we know it's safe. But not in Miami Shores. It's very quiet, very peaceful neighborhood. And maybe they don't know they're in Miami Shores. Maybe they think they're somewhere else.

All right, do we have any other questions or comments from the board? All right, hearing none. Yep. Has everyone had a chance to review the meeting minutes?

All right.

Do I have a motion to approve the meeting minutes? So moved.

Do I have a second? Second. All in favor, say aye. All opposed, say nay. Aye.

The ayes have it. Meeting minutes are approved. Do I have a motion to adjourn? I move. Second. All right. Moved and seconded. Everyone in favor, say aye. All opposed, say nay. Aye. Ayes have it. The meeting is now adjourned.