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O-701-13 ORDINANCE NO. 701-13 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE COUNCIL, MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE, FLORIDA,AMENDING THE VILLAGE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CHAPTER 2 "ADMINISTRATION" BY CREATING A NEW SECTION 2-81(g), SETTING FORTH STANDARDS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO ADDRESS CERTAIN CODE ENFORCEMENT LIEN ENFORCEMENT ISSUES, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS,AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, in accordance with Florida Statutes Chapter 162, existing provisions of the Village Code and general law, properly recorded Village Code Enforcement liens generally encumber the real property within the Village that was the subject of the violation leading to the lien, as well as all other real estate owned by the violator in the county where the lien is recorded, until such time as such lien is released or otherwise barred; WHEREAS, existing law and Village Ordinances provide a procedure for the Code Enforcement Board to provide relief from the effects of the duly recorded code enforcement liens of the Village, however such provisions currently require, among other things, that all violations upon the property within the Village be cured as a precondition of seeking such relief, and such relief may only be sought at meetings of the Code Enforcement Board (which occur no more often than once a month generally); WHEREAS, the Village Administration has recently been receiving an increasing number of requests for various accommodations outside of the procedures authorized by the existing code provisions, under circumstances where, for various reasons, the property owners are unable to comply with the existing code provisions regarding the release of liens; WHEREAS, these circumstances have created a demonstrated need for additional flexibility in the procedures for granting relief from the Village's Code Enforcement liens, under appropriate circumstances, and in accordance with appropriate standards and guidelines all in order to strike an appropriate balance between the important public purpose of obtaining compliance with the Village Code through correction of violations which have resulted in liens and various other important public policy objectives of the Village including facilitation of the conversion of vacant or abandoned properties into occupied properties for new Village residents, dealing with the concerns raised by an increasing incidence of "squatters" in abandoned or unoccupied residences within the Village subject to Code Enforcement liens, and the apparent increase in the incidence of large Village Code Enforcements liens actually preventing or substantially delaying the work necessary to effectuate compliance with the code and cure of existing code violations (by making sale or refinancing of the property unduly difficult or impossible); and WHEREAS, for the foregoing reasons, it is in the best interests of the Village to amend the Village Code to add a new section establishing, in accordance with the terms set forth below, additional policies and procedures to provide for relief from Village liens as an accommodation (and not as a right), in certain specified cases,to advance and promote the policy objectives described above; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE COUNCIL,that: Section 1. The Miami Shores Village Code of Ordinances is hereby amended by adding a new subsection to be numbered 2-81(g),which new subsection shall read as follows: Section 2-81(g). In accordance with the provisions of this subsection, any Miami Shores Code Enforcement lien arising under Florida Statutes Chapter 162 may be the subject of such Appropriate Accommodation as may be Duly Approved, if and when such accommodation is deemed Reasonably Necessary to the pursuit of Compliance, all in accordance with the definitions which appear hereinafter. The Village Manager is authorized to condition the approval of any such Appropriate Accommodation upon such lawful conditions as he may deem in the best interest of the Village (including payments against existing fines) in light of the policies,guidelines and standards set forth herein. These policies, guidelines and standards include but are not limited to the pursuit and promotion of the achievement of Compliance, facilitating the reduction or minimization of abandoned housing within the Village by assisting in the transition of same to lawfully occupied single family dwellings, seeking to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of "squatters" unlawfully occupying vacant or abandoned housing within the Village and fostering respect for and compliance with the provisions of the Village Code and the lawful orders of the Code Enforcement Board. As used in this subsection the following terms shall be defined as indicated: L Appropriate Accommodation refers to these specific authorized acts which serve in some way to compromise or modify the Village's rights under Village Code Enforcement liens applicable to a subject property: • Subordinating one or more Village Code Enforcement liens to institutional mortgage financing to enable a property owner to fund compliance efforts; • Releasing a Village Code Enforcement lien to allow a bonafide property sale to a genuine third party purchaser who provides reasonably satisfactory security for a written promise to achieve Compliance by a date certain; • Releasing a Village Code Enforcement lien only with respect to separate property outside of the Village while retaining the lien on all other property. ii. Duly Approved means a Reasonable Accommodation has been recommended in writing by the Code Enforcement Supervisor and the Village Attorney and has been accepted by the Village Manager in his Discretion. iii. Discretion means best judgment guided by the policies and standards described in this subsection. iv. Compliance, means the actual cure of the violations upon which any Village Code Enforcement liens are based, as confirmed by the Code Enforcement Department. V. Reasonably Necessary, means that an Appropriate Accommodation makes eventual Compliance substantially more likely than could be the case without such Appropriate Accommodation, given the situation of the property owner,the condition of the property,the costs of Compliance and the lack of any other effective means of achieving Compliance;all giving due regard for factors which include: • The nature and duration of the violation; • The extent of the property owner's equity in'the property; • The existence of a bonafide default or foreclosure under an institutional mortgage; • The existence of a bonafide short sale opportunity approved by a bonafide institutional mortgage holder; • A prospective or actual bonafide sale to a genuine third party purchaser (unrelated to the Seller) where the Seller receives no substantial sales proceeds (and for purposes this factor, payments actually used for the satisfaction of a bonafide third party institutional mortgage shall not be considered sale proceeds received by the Seller). Nothing contained in this subsection shall be deemed to afford any property owner the right to obtain any Accommodation but rather the intent of this subsection is to provide the Village additional flexibility and options to grant such discretionary Accommodations as may be deemed warranted by the Village, in accordance with the provisions hereof, and without the need for approval of the Code Enforcement Board. The provisions of this subsection are supplementary to and do not displace the other provisions for modification or reduction of Code Enforcement fines set forth in section 2-81(d) and (f) of the Village Code. The Village Manager shall report in writing to the Village Council,the terms of every Appropriate Accommodation Duly Approved under this section, within 30 days of such approval. Section 2. If any sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction,then said holding shall in no way affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance,which shall be deemed to be severable therefrom. Section 3. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith or inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed, but only insofar as such ordinances may be inconsistent or in conflict with this Ordinance. Section 4. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon approval and adoption on second reading. PASSED on first reading this f day of October ,2013. PASSED AND APPROVED on second reading this 5th day of November ,2013. ATTEST: Herta Holly, Mayor &lay , MAtL Barbara A. Estep, MMC Village Clerk P�AFORMI : r Richard Sarafan,Village Atto ney 7718-001/#777