More should be done by the City of Jacksonville to protect the community from negligent property owners who ignore municipal code violation fines while additional complaints aren't heard. The City of Jacksonville Municipal Code Compliance Division states, “MCCD enforces property maintenance, safety, and zoning codes, which affect the quality of life in Jacksonville. These laws address property nuisances, unsafe structures, residential and commercial minimum building standards, zoning, and violations related to junk vehicles on private property.”

However, two recent news reports regarding the Laura Street Trio and Regency Square properties demonstrate the challenges the city faces in enforcing code violations. In these two cases, there are reportedly over $2 million in combined outstanding building code violations. This raises the question: what is the total amount of outstanding building code violations owed to the City of Jacksonville? We have reached out to the City of Jacksonville to inquire about the total amount of outstanding unpaid fines. Alongside the fines as an enforcement measure, what is the impact on the “quality of life” in the areas where enforcement apparently isn’t effective?

In the case of the Laura Street Trio property, Live Oak Contracting, a partner with SouthEast Development Group, wants to purchase the property. However, before doing so, they seek relief from a lien imposed by the City of Jacksonville due to over $800,000 in fines. “As far as settling the fines goes, the city would release the order recorded against the property and dismiss the foreclosure lawsuit in exchange for a payment of $4,000 within 48 months,” according to the Jacksonville Business Journal. “As of January 10, the agreement has yet to be signed, leaving the decision in Live Oak’s court,” wrote mayoral spokesperson Phillip Perry in an email to the Business Journal.

In the case of the Regency Square property, it has been cited and accruing fines since 2017 for numerous violations, including pieces of the ceiling collapsing, with hundreds of garbage cans placed around the facility to catch rainwater from a leaking roof. “Ongoing deterioration at the 58-year-old Regency Square Mall has generated city code compliance fines of $1,775,750, as of January 29, against the owners of the largely vacant multitenant retail space at the shopping center,” according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. A proposed settlement was sent to a prospective buyer from the Municipal Code Compliance Enforcement Board/Special Magistrate. Yet, why hasn’t the city condemned or foreclosed on the property?

Furthermore, when buildings fall into disrepair, the public can report code violations to the city. However, once the property is cited by the Municipal Code Compliance Division, additional reports are often marked as duplicate complaints in their system. Thus, it is unclear if there is much difference between one complaint and a thousand complaints against a property, especially considering that the city might eventually settle these fines regardless of the ongoing negative impact on quality of life over months or even years.

More can be done to protect the community from negligent property owners who ignore code violations. One option would be to restrict such owners from receiving any forgivable loans, city grants, or other financial incentives from the Downtown Development Authority and similar development agencies within the city government. The city needs a more aggressive approach to dealing with decades of blight, as allowing such issues to persist negatively affects the quality of life and the health and safety of Jacksonville residents.