Town Code Board Finds Minor Violation at Trump Properties Lot, Issues $150 Fine

Code Enforcement Board Meeting Minutes 04/17/08 demolition permit had been issued for this property on November 11, 2007 with a final inspection of February 15, 2008. There was a building permit initially issued on the site which stayed the requirement to seed and irrigate. The building permit had since been rescinded by the contractor which meant it was no longer a construction site and the lot had to be maintained. He had numerous meetings with the property owner and the property manager who was present to speak today if necessary. Mr. Walton said that as of yesterday, an irrigation system had been installed and the property had been hydro-seeded. They are now in compliance with the ordinance. The violation was not corrected prior to the time specified but was corrected prior to the hearing. The Town recommends the Board find the violation occurred but has been corrected, assess administrative costs in the amount of $150.00 and no further fines be imposed and the case closed. MOTION BY MS. DUEMLER TO FIND THE VIOLATION OCCURRED BUT HAS BEEN CORRECTED AND ASSESS ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS OF $150.00 SECONDED BY MR. KOEPPEL MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY H. Case # 08-2484, 515 N. County Road, Trump Properties, LLC Violation of Chapter 18, Section 18-205 of the Town of Palm Beach Code of Ordinances, the Architectural Commission may attach conditions to any approval it grants (Declaration of Use Agreement). Lead Code Enforcement Walton presented the facts of the case and said the previous owner of the property, Abe Gosman, had been granted approval by the Architectural Commission to do some remodeling. One of the conditions of this approval was that the hedge along the front of the property be maintained in the condition it was in at the time the approval was granted. This agreement was a binding agreement, which passes on to any subsequent property owner. The agreement was made January 31, 1990. The subsequent buyer of this property was Mr. Trump, Trump Properties, LLC and some remodeling work was done, removing the previous hedge. A new hedge was planted to replace the original hedge and that one has now been removed. This is a violation of the agreement. A letter was received from Mr. Royce, representing Mr. Trump, asking for a postponement of today’s hearing. The Town does not feel this matter should be postponed. Mr. Randolph summarized the letter from Mr. Royce which indicated the ficus hedge keeps dying and they want to replace it with something different. They plan on hiring a landscape architect to go before the next Architectural Commission meeting to get approval to install a hedge in an attempt to meet the conditions of the declaration of use agreement. Mr. Randolph said he had discussions with Mr. Royce and Mr. Walton and Mr. Royce was told the Town could not recommend a postponement and the recommendation would be that they are found in violation, assessed the $150.00 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016607