I am a mason of over two decades that has recently purchased a home in Port Richey, FL.
Soon after moving into the home I noticed termites had all but eaten the frame of a garage door (the tin door was already in disrepair aside from the damage to the wood frame or as a result of the damage of the wood frame).
On a windy day the door would collapse inside the garage and upon one of those occasions I decided enough was enough and murdered the termites with boric acid, hauled the garage door to the dump, and installed a concrete & steel reinforced concrete block wall in its place (along with a simple steel access door to the old garage.
Soon thereafter I received a ticket for $50.00 + double fines.
Having worked in all but three states in this country I was astounded, especially after reading the codes online, as to why I ought to be extorted this way.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the dictionary definition of a "structural" wall is still any wall that is load bearing (the garage door was never load bearing, and for that matter anything I put beneath the bondbeam is not load bearing, as it is self-supporting.
Taking it one step further.....let's say a hurricane should blast through here....what would you suppose would be safer to stand behind? The garage door of tin and damaged wood frame, or the concrete block with steel and grout-filled cells?
Which leads me to the impetus behind this letter. Could you finally inform me as to which avenue I can take to rectify the inappropriate fines and codes (not exclusive of my scenario; how can I address them?).
There's a few areas I'd like to address in a more formal arena (such as: why is it not requiring a permit to put up a wooden fence yet a block fence requires we not only pay $100.00 per linear foot + $5.00 for each additional $1k + $30.00 zoning "fee" + $25.00 Review "fee" + the cost of a stamp of approval from an engineer on a simple 4' non-bearing, non-retainer high wall?). Not even in California is this applicable (north or south!).
Basically I'd like to address some issues because it seems to me that "we the people" are being robbed without a gun here and before I die I'd like to change something for the betterment of my fellow men (as opposed to profiting by manipulating them; or blindly standing behind rules for the profiteering of a select group of "leaders").
Pardon the tone of this letter....but if you're a resident of Florida you are probably aware of some of the other money grabbing schemes that are occurring with taxes and insurance, etc.
Respectfully,
Kenny Hendrick
727-565-2177