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Article Courtesy of Sarasota
Herald-Tribune
By Anne Snabes
Published January 11, 2023
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Since October, many tree branches, palm fronds and the stump of an olive tree
have been piled in the traffic circle by George and Lori Melton’s Sarasota
County home.
“After a while, you just get tired of looking at it,” George Melton said.
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He said the debris has attracted wild
animals to his neighborhood. One day, he was working in his
garage when he saw a bobcat stroll by.
“I’ve never seen a bobcat down here,” he said, “ever.”
Hurricane Ian damaged many trees in the neighborhood, called
Village Des Pins, but none of the debris piles left after
residents' clean up from the storm have been picked up. The
residents of Village Des Pins and its sister neighborhood,
Pinetree Village, expected Sarasota County to pick up the
debris, as it has in other neighborhoods.
But a county spokeswoman said that the neighborhoods are
condominium communities and are thus not eligible for debris
collection by the county, a status that also affects mobile
home communities and businesses under federal guidelines for
disaster aid. The county has to follow Federal Emergency
Management Agency guidelines, as the agency will reimburse
the county for debris cleanup in most other neighborhoods.
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Lori and George Melton and their Havanese dog Crusher
stand in front of hurricane debris in front of their South Sarasota
neighborhood of Village Des Pins
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The situation shows the predicament that condominiums and mobile home
communities face after major storms.
Debris from Hurricane Ian is still in the Village des Pins and Pinetree Village
neighborhoods.
The piles of debris
Village Des Pins and Pinetree Village are composed of townhomes, with at least
two households in each building. Pine trees are spread throughout the two
communities, as well as palm trees and deciduous trees.
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The vegetation was felled by Hurricane
Ian, among the millions of cubic yards of debris left across
Southwest Florida by the storm. Many trees were uprooted in
the storm, said Alan Brownstone, the president of Pinetree
Village’s homeowners association.
The two associations paid to have the trees cut and moved to
the sides of their roads. But the piles remain there, about
three months later, even though the county is nearly done
with the collection process.
Neighborhood residents said the piles of debris have brought
rodents, coyotes and bobcats to the area.
“It’s not just an eyesore, but it’s dangerous,” Lori Melton
said of the storm debris.
Karen Petitte, the secretary of Village
Des Pins’ homeowners association, said it’s frustrating to
see all of the remaining debris. |
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Lots of hurricane debris is still in the Village Des
Pins and Pinetree Village Neighborhoods.
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“The people who own here are pretty tired of seeing the storm debris,” she
said. Petitte added that those who rent properties in the neighborhood are
“just sort of amazed” that the debris is still there so long after the
storm.
Ineligible for county pickup
Communication misunderstandings seem to have been responsible
for why the two neighborhoods thought the county would pick up their debris.
Salvatore Munno, the neighborhoods’ property manager, said he called Sarasota
County in the weeks after Ian struck, and was told that the county was picking
up debris from public roads first and private roads second. Village Des Pins and
Pinetree Village have private roads.
By mid-December, the debris still hadn’t been picked up. Munno said he called
the county again, and was told that the area would be serviced immediately. He
said he didn’t hear back from the county after the call.
Sarasota County spokeswoman Brianne Grant said that Munno didn’t request a
callback or an “escalation,” which is when the county further investigates a
debris pickup issue.
Munno said he had expected the debris to be picked up by the county, as it had
been in the neighborhoods after Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Condominiums aren't the only kind of property ineligible for the county's
hurricane pickup process – neither are cemeteries, apartments, mobile home
parks, golf courses or businesses.
Grant said that these properties can still apply for financial assistance from
the Small Business Administration, which has an application deadline of Jan. 12.
She noted that residents can also partner with their neighbors to hire a debris
hauler, or communities can try working through their insurance.
Grant said that private communities, businesses, commercial contractors and tree
services are not permitted to dump storm debris on the right-of-way. They must
dispose of it at the Central County Landfill (4000 Knights Trail Road, Nokomis)
or at an alternative permitted facility.
Petitte, the secretary of Village Des Pins’ homeowner association, said the
situation is frustrating because she and her neighbors pay county taxes just as
those in other residential areas where debris has been collected.
“I just don’t understand the rationale for excluding condominiums,” she said.
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