Miami Gardens homeowner facing new fines for old problems with city-owned swales
A homeowner faces a new fine for an old problem with city-owned swales in front of his home.
Tarrell Wallace said runoff from the street eroded thousands of dollars his family spent to avoid fines.
City of Miami Gardens code requires grass in the swale, and for homeowners to mow and maintain it. However, a letter from code enforcement has one man frustrated.
"Why are they not being held responsibe?" Wallace said of city staff.
Along NW 152nd Terrace, Wallace sees a storm drain swallowing investments in sod and soil that he laid on city property to avoid code violations.
"What more can they get from me?"
"I don't know what they're trying to do, what they're trying to get from me?" Wallace said of city staff. "I have done everything they asked for. What more can they get out of me?"
Wallace showed CBS News Miami a letter from the city's code enforcement division that said he oswed $250 in unpaid fines for a violation that Wallace thought he cured.
City staff told him it is about swale maintenance, Wallace said.
Almost two years ago, he faced hundreds of dollars in fines when inspectors found Wallace's swales full of dirt and rock.
Wallace and his wife circulated a petition among Rainbow Park neighbors experiencing similar problems asking city leaders to reconsider such enforcement.
Wallace's family hired workers to pour dirt, level it and raise the soil to the same height as the street, he said. Then, he said workers laid sod.
Wallace said It cost his family more than $2,000.
"I'm a victim now"
Over then next few months, South Florida rains took their toll, Wallace said. He showed CBS News Miami a progression of photos that Wallace said shows water eroding sod and soil while pushing it down the drain.
"All it does is die, muck up and then all you start doing is getting rocks," he said.
Last month, a new inspector sent a violation in the mail issuing a new fine.
"I get the same fine saying that it's never been closed out," Wallace said. "I'm a victim now. I'm just being victim. You build the lawn up (then) probably in the next two years or so they probably come back and do another layer of asphalt."
CBS News Miami asked for a comment from the City of Miami Gardens but has not yet heard back. However, Miami Gardens city offices close every Friday.
Wallace is appealing his fine and expects to discuss his fine with a code enforcement manager on Monday.
Meanwhile, he wonders when city crews will fix drainage on re-paved streets that stand several inches above swales that struggle with erosion.