City of West Melbourne, Florida – Democracy or What???

July 6, 2009 at 18:29 | Posted in Amore di Italia | 4 Comments
Tags: BrevardCounty, citizens, City West Melbourne, dream, FL, Florida, home, house, laws, Melbourne, property values, ramblings, real estate, SpaceCoast, taxpayers, West Melbourne, zoning

This is one of the most difficult posts to write and as I write, I am in tears. I am shaken to the core to realize that my city government of West Melbourne, Florida could be as callous and undemocratic as it is. Unless one considers the needs of everyone else come before the needs of a homeowner and taxpayer, unless one considers the financial well being of one is unimportant in respect to what the city sees as fair to everyone else. I am making this post in hopes of sharing enough information that others can be forewarned and not face the heartache, disillusionment, and financial ruin that West Melbourne, Florida has “blessed” me with.

My home originally before mess can be seen here – 

Front Yard Before This Started

 As many of my loyal readers know, bonnieshusband is permanently disabled. We are not wealthy people. I have worked since he was disabled and like many folks, we planned on the equity in our home to be our retirement base. As with most others we have seen that value decrease due to the housing bubble but we had purchased twelve years ago and did enough improvements that we still felt safe and comfortable with the amount of equity we had realized. This home spanning almost 2700 sq. ft. with pool and originally nice landcaping was market value of over $200,000, a moderate but decent home for us and the area. When we purchased our home we did our research. I had been raised in the construction and real estate business and worked in the field also. The first rule of real estate is location, followed by rule #2 of location, closely followed by rule #3 of location. We knew an easement existed on our side and rear yards for drainage and utilities, something almost every subdivision in this area also has. To the very edge of the property line, clearly visible even in the current Google maps photos there shows a telephone pole with small electric panel box. This was to power a sewer pump underground in the road – visible as a small manhole cover in the road. There was also a small cover in-ground on neighbor’s easement, also visible in the photos. Grass for the most part hid that one. We were told before we agreed to purchase the house that the electric box and pole would be ‘going away’ when the city reworked the system – and all would go under-ground. This was something all of the neighbors then were also told. Based on that information we bought the house. The city for some reason did not use earmarked funds to do the project so it was delayed for several years. In March of this year the surveyors arrived and marked utility lines and well point marks (we were later told that was what the wood stakes were for). Note the photo of the wood stake up against our front window area – it is still there as of tonight and turned out to be where they planned on drilling a well-point. However as a building inspector pointed out, drawing water off so close to the foundation would probably compromise the foundation! Ya think???

Well Point Stake Against House

    Next ensued a visit by myself to city hall of West Melbourne, FL to ‘invite’ city officials to actually visit their intended job site. We along with neighbors were informed that obviously they would need to ‘redesign’ the project but that we “were inconveniencing the rest of the neighborhood” and that we should realize how “unfair we were to not do this for the betterment” of our neighbors and the city. Gee – I’m so sorry! I guess if they had given us a Notice of Intent up front or knocked on the door when the pros visited the job site to work on the plans, we might have been able to show them the large cement structure that had been sitting there for thirty years! Well they did the redesign – except they forgot to note the driveways to the houses so they had to go back to the drawing boards again! Professionalism at its finest so far? Their ultimate solution was to now position all of the lift station in the right of way of the roadway. Of course it ended up also in front of my front windows.

My House Now

 As the West Melbourne, Fl City Attorney explains it, that is their legal right to position anything such as this anywhere they have a right of way, i.e.: road or easement! So beware – you may be equally blessed, especially if you live in West Melbourne, Fl with one of these in the road directly in front of your front door or windows too! Worse yet, the constant refrain has been that none of them would have bought a house with a sewer in front of it either. Interestingly neither did I per se – but the City Attorney of West Melbourne had also stated it was the city’s prerogative to build this in any road way right of way. 

Hole In Side Front New View Of Front Yard

I have reminded everyone that as a taxpayer I do not expect to be talked to condescendingly as they work for me, a taxpayer and citizen. No one else pays my mortgage or taxes, so this is more than merely inconvenient for me! They have robbed me of my financial security and peace of mind. My faith in our government being there to serve and protect is obviously destroyed! Most municipalities although having the same rights, do not abuse them in such a cavalier manner. Rather they work in an effort to bolster, not destroy property values. Our complaints are also a part of the City Council Records as we have been attending the West Melbourne, Fl meetings. 

Thanks West Melbourne Florida for the Beautification Project

Interestingly most of the Council went on record agreeing with us but it  means nothing but a “Gee, we’re sorry” and no recourse otherwise. This has been a rude awakening. I was raised to believe that one’s town government as well as the federal government were there to serve and protect its citizens. Obviously this is not the policy or general belief of the town of West Melbourne, Florida. I thought this was a great place to raise a family and retire – now I am sure it is not! Any company thinking of relocating here should do so cautiously or they will find corporate property values could be played with and certainly the employees would be taking a huge risk to purchase a home in a place that cares so little about them. No consideration was given to our family’s rights or needs. It may in fact mean my future is ruined, but I would never want to see anyone else go through this type of  heartbreak at the hands of another town the way West Melbourne, Florida has treated us! By the way – our yard is still dug up and a mud hole, our mailbox was relocated down the street, the road is also still dug up. We’ve been promised some flowers around the lift station and they’re going to paint the electric boxes, too. Aren’t we lucky??? 

West Melbourne, Florida at its Best???