Everything better be shipshape!
In August, with an eye out for restricted vehicles, overgrown lots, trash and debris, Manatee County code enforcement personnel are scheduled to comb Cortez — a community whose residents enjoy special regulatory exemptions due to the area’s commercial fishing legacy.
The sweep will be part of a yearlong initiative to improve sightlines in the county, which officials have broken into 11 geographic regions for the undertaking.
The sweep dates are subject to change and communities will be notified several weeks before enforcement begins, county information outreach manager Bill Logan told The Islander in a March 28 email.
“As each region gets ‘swept,’ residents will see multiple message boards and signs advising of the cleanup activities,” Logan said.
Cortez is one of the oldest working fishing villages in the state and a number of residences in the community have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995.
Thanks to a combination of exemptions and village-specific regulations listed in the Manatee County land development code, boats, crab traps and other fishing gear are a common sight on the lawns in the village.
Code violations include overgrown yards, unsafe structures, abandoned vehicles, unpermitted signs, businesses operating in residential areas, dangerous dead trees, noise disturbances and criminal nuisance activities.
“Residents with any concerns about properties with (these) elements — or who may have identified possible violations on their own property — are urged to do what they can to ensure voluntary compliance before the sweep commences,” Logan said.
For more information, call 311 or visit mymanatee.org.