(WSVN) - Now here is an example of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. One neighbor thinks the yard is a mess. The other is proud it’s certified as Florida-friendly landscaping and thinks its beautiful. One is right, one is wrong, and that’s why it’s time to bring in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
The 275 homeowners at Lakes of Newport have what everyone wants: a great neighborhood.
Mark Workman: “And everybody is kind and considerate to each other. It’s a nice community to live in, family-friendly.”
Another reason Mark says it’s a nice place to live — neighbors take care of their properties.
Mark Workman: “I take pride in my yard, and all of my neighbors do, except for one that appears not to.”
This is that property, which is certified by various agencies for its Florida-friendly landscaping, meaning among other things, the owner has low-maintenance native plants that do not use a lot of water.
Mark Workman: “I think he had good intentions when he started out doing this. However, he took it to another level.”
Using Google Maps, you can see what the property looked like in 2008, then 2011, and now today.
Mark Workman: “Maybe it is beautiful to him, but there’s another 274 other people in this community that don’t see it that way.”
Mark believes the owner is violating the association documents that say the properties have to be kept in a first-class condition.
Mark Workman: “They look at the neighbor and they go like, ‘What is the point of me maintaining my property in a class A environment when we have a class F beside us?'”
Remember when Mark said the neighbors are nice? This is proof. They like this homeowner. They just don’t like what his landscaping looks like.
Mark Workman: “I don’t want him to take the designation away. I think it’s a good designation. It’s a good thing for the community to have a home designated like that. I just want him to comply with what their standards would be.”
Mark went and asked the property owner to trim back his landscaping. He didn’t.
Mark Workman: “The neighbors are tired of it, and they want to do something about it. I’m hoping that Howard can certainly help us with that.”
Well, Howard, can neighbors force a owner to trim back this landscaping?
Howard Finkelstein: “Yes, they can. You can have any kind of landscaping you want, as long as it does not violate the City’s code or your association’s rules. We’ve checked the city law and the association documents, and clearly they have the right to force the homeowner to cut back the plants. If he doesn’t, the association can do it and bill the homeowner.”
Carl Barta, Florida-friendly landscaping: “I’ve been doing this for the past 18 years, and there have never been any problems.”
Carl Barta owns this home and says his neighbors aren’t upset with his plants that have been there for years. It’s personal.
Carl Barta: “What happened right now is because we got a lot of newcomers here, Donald Trump type of people who absolutely hate nature and the environment.”
After we talked to the City of Plantation, they told Carl to trim back his landscaping. He did a little, but the homeowners association decided it still violated their bylaws.
They then went in and cut everything growing on the swale, all the way to a white fence that had been hidden behind the landscaping.
Carl was fuming about the cutbacks.
Carl Barta: “Which is very unfortunate, because now it really looks bad. It looked much better before.”
Again, Mark would have to disagree with his neighbor. He thinks the neighborhood looks much better now.
Mark Workman: “I’m very happy I called Channel 7, and thank you Help Me Howard and the team.”
By the way, Mark decided to run for an association seat to have a say in his neighborhood. He was elected president. As for Carl’s yard, the board is now going to bill him for the work they did trimming the swale, and they want him to replace some of the plants and plant more grass to follow the association bylaws.
A problem planted in your lap growing out of control? Wanna trim it back? Hedge your bets and contact us. We don’t use clippers, but we will try to mow through things for you.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
On Twitter: @helpmehoward7
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