TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Nov. 26 will mark 16 months since Hurricane Helene flooded Pinellas County communities with several feet of storm surge.
Now, the city of Treasure Island is looking at changing a city ordinance to deal with an issue some say has gotten worse since the storm.
At a Tuesday workshop, commissioners discussed the city’s mandatory lawn-mowing program. Treasure Island’s code compliance supervisor said at the meeting that there are about 200 overgrown lawns in the city. It’s an issue that has come to the forefront as homes sit vacant following Helene, with officials and residents saying the properties are creating health and safety issues.
“Nhora, I don’t even know where this water’s coming from. Here’s the hallway,” Timothy Vanek can be heard saying in a video he sent to his wife during Helene.
He rode out the storm in their Isle of Palms home. The footage shows water pouring into their home between the baseboard and wall.
“This is how much water’s outside the front door. The streets have flooded. Probably got three feet of water,” Vanek continued as the video shows the water rising outside a window.
When the water subsided, repairs began.
“We all worked very hard to get our homes rebuilt after the storm, after the hurricane,” said Vanek. “It took us seven months. That’s pretty much 14 hours a day for seven months.”
The Vaneks said they had to deal with another challenge post-hurricane at a property near their home.
“Pretty bad to where the grass was probably two feet or higher. Then, you have rats. We’ve had rats that come over,” he said. “At first, I thought it was a cat. So, they’re pretty big.”
“It’s an issue because of safety and health when we’ve got snakes, when we’ve got rats,” Mayor John Doctor said.
The city’s code compliance supervisor said he and two other employees have a current workload of 401 cases. Eighty-one of those involve landscaping violations, while 80-100 are landscaping along with additional violations.
Doctor said a number of the properties are homes bought by investors and developers after Helene who aren’t maintaining them. He told Spectrum News that can create additional issues.
“Once you see a yard that’s going from six, and all of a sudden to 10 inches … people that are coming by are actually dumping bricks and debris and everything else,” he said.
The city commission discussed proposed changes to the mowing ordinance. Changes could include specifying that grass 10 inches or longer is considered a nuisance, streamlining case timelines, and hiring a new employee to help carry out the program. There could also be additional costs for owners who don’t maintain their lawns.
Vanek said he is in favor of tougher penalties.
“I understand it’s traumatic for everybody, but it’s been a year now,” he said. “I think it’s time you either gotta bulldoze your house, sell it, or cut the grass, because it affects all of us and our property values.”
The commission decided it wants to move forward with possibly changing the ordinance. Doctor said it will appear before the board for additional readings before anything is finalized.
Sarah Blazonis
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