BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Lake Butler City Commissioners gave City Manager Kim Hayes the green light to start code enforcement proceedings against residents living in campers, sheds, and travel trailers.
Hayes said that before she started enforcing the city’s rules regarding such living arrangements, she wanted to check with commissioners, anticipating many complaints.
“Because me riding around,” Hayes told commissioners, “I have seen a lot of that. So, before I touch on that one, just that one’s going to upset a lot of people. There are a lot of people living in campers, and there are a lot of people living in sheds.”
Mayor Melissa Hendrix said that at one point, former Mayor Jack Schenck made daily rounds to inform residents of the city’s rules.
“We got it cleaned up,” Hendrix said, “but now they’re coming back, and it’s not really fair to the rest of us who are paying our taxes and paying our bills, and then they’re piggybacking off of that.”
Hayes said some people living illegally in campers have hooked up to the city’s sewer system and are using Lake Butler utilities free of charge.
Hayes also said many Lake Butler homeowners are renting their backyard sheds and campers.
Both Hayes and Hendrix stated that they have observed backyard structure residents discharging raw sewage into ditches.
Vice Mayor Rondoll Huggins advised his colleagues to prepare for complaints, noting that noncompliant residents would likely come armed with photos of other city code violations, claiming they were being singled out.
Hendrix said other code violations should be enforced as well. She instructed Hayes to proceed with enforcement.
“We have the policy, so we just enforce it,” she said. “So, just enforce the policy.”
