Cape Coral hosts more FEMA hearings

Red tags are rearing their ugly head. Cape Coral homeowners who were slapped with these tags and found non-compliant with city code permits are back to defend themselves.

Some walked out of council chambers with smiles, others with a frown on Tuesday morning.

Homeowners could face potentially large fines, and even their houses are on the line.

Cape Coral neighbors charged into the council chambers with stacks of paper.

“I don’t know anything about this stuff. I talked to FEMA, they gave me a form that was impossible to fill out,” said Charles Scollick, a Cape Coral resident.

Some defended not getting permits and others defending not knowing about paperwork or permits, which is Charles’s case.

“I found a guy in Miami and he was real. He told me he didn’t need permits for drywall and he didn’t need permits for doing like, changing kitchen cabinets. Apparently, he did. He went and finished the work and didn’t pull any permits. Then, I got this notice in the mail from a year and a half later,” said Scollick.

Scollick had to then spend more money to get back on FEMA’s good graces.

“I hired another contractor and have him pull all the permits,” said Scollick.

He came to City Chambers Tuesday to prove his new contractor is in the process of getting permits. The city told him they will now need to review them.

The city says they aren’t being mean, it’s just the rules.

“That is our goal is to just get them into compliance. And we do have city staff here available for them to make sure that whatever they don’t understand if there is a misunderstanding that we help bridge that gap and make it and help them out,” said Melissa Mickey, the Communications Manager for the city

This comes after 209 properties in Cape Coral were originally flagged by FEMA. As of Tuesday morning, only 39 properties were left in question.

After Tuesday, four more properties were found to be in good standing. 14 asked for additional time to submit materials, and 21 are still noncompliant.

There were no outbursts in the meeting, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t upset about the red tags. Scollick said he is not looking forward to returning for another hearing in August.

Fines may be imposed on those found guilty and it could be up to $50 per day. The city told WINK News Reporter Olivia Jean that no fines have been imposed prior to Tuesday and some of the 21 found non-compliant may have had fines imposed.

The City of Cape Coral should hear back from FEMA by July 10 with a decision on whether or not they get to keep their 25% flood insurance discount.