MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said code enforcement across the county has been suspended for 30 days to give residents a chance to clean up after Hurricane Irma.
The announcement, made via Twitter, follows a Help Me Howard segment from last week where Patrick Fraser reported that, in the hours following the storm, county inspectors issued more than 800 safety notices to homeowners to clean up and repair storm-related damage.
As a reminder to County residents, there will be no code enforcement in @MiamiDadeCounty for the next 30 days.
— Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez (@MayorGimenez) September 22, 2017
Property owner Celso Perez thought the county was coming to help him after his fence was knocked down. He was stunned when he got his citation.
“Give us a minute to breathe and let us get our power back on,” said Perez. “I wouldn’t mind if they told me that a few days down the line or in due time, but it bothers me that they came out here just a few hours after the storm had passed.”
County officials told Help Me Howard that inspectors went out right after the storm because that’s when conditions are most dangerous and the public needs to be protected.
But on Monday, Gimenez tweeted out the 30-day suspension in order to allow residents to clear up debris and fix their properties before they receive notices or citations.
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