High Springs enlists code enforcement to clean up blight

C.M. WALKER/Alachua County Today

One of several neglected and overgrown High Springs properties the city hopes to clean up through a clean up campaign that will include additional similar properties. City staff will also be identifying city-owned properties to clean up and sell to the highest bidder.

HIGH SPRINGS – Members of the High Springs Code Board met for the first time in four years on March 1 to discuss ways in which some of the blighted areas in the city could be improved.

The next morning, City Manager Ed Booth, Building Inspector Scott Thomason and former Code Board member Mike Kearney were seen driving around the city identifying specific properties that appeared to be abandoned, overgrown and falling into disrepair.

Cleaning up the city has been a project Booth has mentioned several times at recent city meetings.

“We are going to be meeting on a monthly basis from now on,” said Booth, “and we intend to have properties for the board to review at each meeting.”

Kearney, who Booth said has a Code Enforcement Certificate which will allow him to contract with the city, will assist in selling 14 properties the city currently owns.

“He is locating the city-owned properties and determining the range of value so when we go out for bid, the city will get the most we can for those 14 properties,” said Booth. “The idea is that we want to put those properties back on the tax roll and get them cleaned up."

Booth hopes to get enough money from the sale of the city-owned properties to pay for the cleanup of others.

“I should get enough money from the sale of those properties to contract with the prison for workers to clean up the other properties we are identifying,” he said.

Booth also wants to have a clean-up weekend to encourage property owners to get rid of old tires and junk that may have accumulated around their homes.

“We would provide hot dogs and hamburgers and rally our citizens to help make our city presentable,” he said. “High Springs is definitely growing and we need to look like we're prosperous and support the growth process. I have faith our citizens want our city to look like a place people want to visit and possibly move into.”

For those who cannot clean up their property because of age or disability, neighbors, friends and church members can be a big help.

For those who aren't interested in cleaning up their properties, “we will bring their situation to the Code Board,” said Booth. The board can fine those property owners. If that still doesn't work, the board can authorize the city to go onto the property, clean it up and apply the cost of the cleanup to the homeowner in the form of a lien against their property.

“Sometimes a homeowner will die and their children or heirs, who may live far away, do not want the property,” said Booth. “In that case, they can either choose to turn the property over to the city and we'll clean it up and sell it or they can authorize us to clean it up and send them the bill,” he said.

Booth said he is talking about hundreds of properties, not just a few. “We identified about 30 as an initial start, plus we have at least a hundred more that are owned and inhabited that need to be cleaned up as well. It's just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Booth contends that properties with underbrush, vines and garbage are unsafe. “They fester rodents and snakes, and many of those properties have owners who need to step up and address their overgrown yards and lots,” he said.

Several Douglass area community members have asked the city to improve the properties in their area. The city met with residents at Allen Chapel earlier this week to discuss their needs.

“We have been talking about creating another redevelopment area in High Springs. Our Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is extremely interested in pursuing the Douglass Community area as the next CRA District,” said Booth.

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