Code enforcement in Lake Worth: The city manager writes how the City is "Moving Forward"

Contact and other information about the City's Code Compliance Division code is below. What follows are two excerpts from the City's newsletter, Worth Noting, written by the City Manager Michael Bornstein. The newsletter is free and you can sign up using this link. To read the entire article about code enforcement use this link. The city manager writes. . .

     "The history of Code enforcement in Lake Worth has been mixed and we have tried to adapt to the dramatic changes that have occurred within the City. Additionally, larger issues such as the bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting foreclosure crisis as well as trends in the Sober Home market have complicated enforcing the rules.
     Almost three years earlier, it was apparent that the City’s Code Compliance Division was having some serious problems. The Division’s operations were hampered by trying to enforce outdated and inconsistent City Codes and they did not have the resources and training necessary to deal with the difficult circumstances in our City.
     Since then, the organizational issues have been addressed with a complete reworking of the department. The clean-up of the Codes was affected by the City Commission with the adoption of over 50 new ordinances."

[and. . .]

     "Florida is a strong property rights state and has stringent guidelines on Notification of Violation and specific processes to ensure private property rights. This means that it can take many months to resolve a case and this creates a backlog and sometime delays. Code Compliance Officers spend lot of time in managing their case load as well as actively working out in the field to identify new violations.
     Maintaining community standards through Code Compliance is not an easy process. But it is one that we are committed to and one that we have made great progress in over the past several years. Thanks to new and enforceable laws adopted by the City Commission, the creation of the Code Remediation Fund, and a dedicated staff committed to the improvement of the City, we are working to make things better.
     If you have a Code issue you can contact the Code Compliance Division (561-586-1652) or visit their webpage.

In Public Service,
Michael Bornstein
City Manager"