JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Payton Rogers purchased a rundown Riverside home eight months ago. It's one of dozens he's been working to renovate over the past six years.
“Fix the blight. That's all I want to do is fix the blight,” Rogers said.
The process has been challenging, however.
Rogers says he's been cited by code enforcement three times, including recently for high grass.
He's believes he's a target.
"There seems to be a pattern," says Rogers. "As soon as I close on a property, they come in like wolves at the gate."
On Tuesday, Rogers says a city contractor placed a dumpster in his backyard, and began loading up recycled heart pine flooring that he says he was collecting to build with.
Rogers stopped them, but was fined $1,200.
"So I'm still paying them to remove my building materials to the dump, when the building materials are actually here to combat another violation, which was to fix the front porch," he said.
Action News shared Rogers concerns with Councilwoman Denise Lee, who heads the city's anti-blight effort.
"I'm glad to know that code enforcement is doing their job," Lee said.
Lee believes code enforcement isn't targeting anyone specific, but rather working harder since Operation Blight began earlier this year.
"The city had not taken on this issue of blight previously, which is a chronic problem in our city, and because we have upped the ante people have not seen this kind of energy before."
Lee admits the process still needs work, however, and she agrees with Rogers that they need to work together to combat the blight problem.
"We need to come together," says Lee, "and I welcome the public to become part of the process to clean up the entire city."
"Some things take time and I feel like we're succeeding in spite of the city's efforts," says Rogers, "but I feel like we should be succeeding in partnership with the city's efforts."
Lee says the Blight program will have more structure in a year from now, and that she is working to rid the books of "antiquated legislation" that she says no longer fits with the city's needs.
WJAX
