Belleair Shore Takes Final Action on Law Against Unkempt LotsBy Leo Coughlin BELLEAIR BLUFFS -- Belleair Shore's Town Commission put the final seal of approval on its ordinance dealing with unkempt properties with a second reading at its meeting Tuesday night. The ordinance gives the town more power to deal with properties that become eyesores with overgrown vegetation, etc. Under the new law, violators will be given 10 days to comply. If compliance is not forthcoming, the mayor is empowered to hire a clean up service and the property owner is billed for the expense. A lien would be filed against the property if payment is not made. A question came up Tuesday night of tacking on additional charges, but John Elias, the Town Attorney, advised that taking such measures would require a special master. "We don't want to have anything like that," Mayor John Robertson said. "We are not looking to make money or be punitive. We just want results. If a place looks bad, we want it cleaned up." Also approved was action on consistency reconciliation, which is a process that brings town laws into line with county and state laws. Elias is working with the Pinellas Planning Council to tweak town ordinances to bring them into line with other laws. Robertson said a planned beach clean up and raking would probably be held in conjunction with Belleair Beach but is probably six weeks off. "We want this terrible cold weather to clear out of here before we do the clean up," he said.
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