Hillsborough's code board gets a closeup look at problems uncovered in 6 housing complexes

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http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/18/TampaBay/Photos_illustrate_apa.shtml

Photos illustrate apartment woes

Hillsborough's code board gets a closeup look at problems uncovered in 6

housing complexes.

By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer

© St. sburg Times

published May 18, 2002

TAMPA -- The photographs seemed irrefutable. Flashed on a large screen above

the heads of the Hillsborough County Code Enforcement board, they bore

silent witness to the sorry and dangerous state of six apartment complexes.

There were holes punched in the exterior walls of Amaretto apartments.

Exposed wires peeking out of ceiling fixtures at Hunter's Pointe Apartments.

Black mold in rotting cabinets at Amberwood apartments.

The owner of all the apartments is New York native Green, whose local

properties came to the attention of housing inspectors last month when a

tenant complained of a sparking outlet at the Amberwood apartments.

Officials cataloged 300 violations at the north Tampa property.

Detailing some of the more than 500 code violations found at Green's

buildings, the chief of code enforcement told the board this was the biggest

case brought against a landlord in Hillsborough.

" These are the most extraordinary housing issues we've ever brought before

the board, " Don Shea said.

Green's property manager Sharon Valenti, sent to face the board because

Green was out of town, drew a very different picture. She said work crews

had been busy at the complexes for days, fixing fire alarms, mending wires,

patching holes.

" We're doing the fire extinguishers, " Valenti said, describing work at

Hunter's Pointe. " The stairs have been repaired. . . . The fence has been

repaired, the bare wiring on the ground covered. "

That drew heckling from several of Green's tenants.

The code board wasn't swayed, either. Fiedler, the acting special

master, ordered Valenti to fix all the problems or face fines that could add

up to thousands of dollars a day.

Electrical problems must be repaired within seven days or a daily fine of

$500 will accrue at each offending complex. Most of the other violations

must be fixed in two weeks or an additional $500 per complex per day will be

levied. And there will be more fines if Green rents vacant apartments that

are not up to code.

Shea said that some of the problems may be beyond the scope of the

enforcement board and that he was working with the state attorney's office.

Glenn Goldberg, Green's Tampa attorney, said his client intends to get the

work done. Green owns 12 complexes in Hillsborough, plus a South Tampa

mansion he calls home when he's not at his other residence in Yonkers, N.Y.

" He's concerned, " Goldberg said later Friday, after speaking with Green by

phone. " He obviously wants to get down here and get to work. "

Shea said he thought it was a long shot that Green could fix everything

before the deadlines.

" It's a monumental task, " he said. " If I was a betting man, I don't think

I'd put money on these properties. "

Vagrants have already moved into Amberwood because apartments weren't

adequately secured, Shea said.

Three of Green's tenants at Hunter's Pointe Apartments on N 50th Street

attended the two-hour hearing and scoffed at Valenti's statement that much

work had been done.

" I'm paying $669 for a so-called luxury apartment, " Tammi Carr told the code

board. Since inspectors had been making the rounds, superficial repairs had

been done, she said, but problems remain.

" The staircase is coming away from the wall, " Carr said, describing ants,

termites and deep holes in the ground for a sprinkler system that never was

installed.

A light switch was hanging off a wall until " the maintenance man came and

Superglued it, " Carr said. " The place is basically falling apart. "

After the hearing, Carr pulled aside the county's chief code inspector, Jim

Blinck, to ask a question about Green.

" Is there any way he can be made to stay in these deplorable places? " she

said.

Blinck was sympathetic, but shook his head. " I don't think that's going to

happen, " he said softly.

Another Hunter's Pointe resident, Daisy Black, said tenants tend to be

" struggling, single parents. " She took issue with the code enforcement

system.

" How could he own all those properties and the city and county allow him to

do it? " she asked.

Code inspectors act only when complaints are made, Shea said, because there

aren't enough inspectors to scrutinize buildings routinely.

In Tampa, Green has already racked up about $50,000 for previous violations,

all unpaid, Shea said. New York City housing officials say Green still owes

$2.3-million for apartment violations since 1986. Green has said he no

longer owns the properties.

-- Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383 or wexler@....