Homeowner Forum / Construction / December 2006

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