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Escambia County
Code Enforcement Team Visits
In August, the PKA Board was pleased to have a visit from Supervisor
Steve Littlejohn and Code Enforcement Officer Richard Craig of the
Escambia County Code Enforcement Division. Environmental Enforcement
enforces and investigates codes, ordinances, state statutes, and
administrative code violations committed in Escambia County. Animal
Control is also a section of Environmental Enforcement.
Richard Craig is directly assigned to the Perdido Key area. He patrols
SW Escambia and Perdido Key regularly, looking for problems and
responding to complaints. In an effort to better understand the role of
Code Enforcement and PKA concerns for maintaining the community we
invited an informal Question and Answer session. Several members
attended and it was an interesting discussion.
Personnel from Environmental Code Enforcement enforce codes and
regulations protecting the environment and quality of life in Escambia
County. This division investigates environmental issues in response to
complaints filed by citizens about various conditions and activities
with their neighborhoods. Code Enforcement responses to complaints
regarding Nuisance Conditions, Land Development Code, Public Health and
Safety, Environmental Crimes, Unsafe Building Structures and Animal
Control. They can directly address any issue that is subject to Escambia
County Code of Ordinances; however they are also a great resource as a
first point of contact for issues wherein the citizen may not know who
to call. If the problem is not one that they can help with, they are
able to document the complaint and then direct it to the appropriate
governing agency, such as the Florida Fish & Wildlife, Army Corp. of
Engineers, ECUA or law enforcement. These are the guys on the ground,
driving around and ready to help.
Following Ivan, when the island was such a mess, and for so long – Code
Enforcement took a beating in the eyes of the public. Citizens wanted it
cleaned up and Now! The division had a steep learning curve in entering
that literal mountain of work with a very limited staff and resources.
Since that time they have added officers, most of whom have some law
enforcement training and have added a computerized system on laptops for
patrol vehicles. Where officers used to have to go back and forth to an
office in order to research property owners, contact owners and file
reports: they now can do it onsite. However, even then there are times
when complicated legal issues related to property ownership slow
clean-up progress. Code Enforcement continues to monitor such problem
while the case moves through the court system.
The PKA board was impressed with the level of commitment expressed by
both of these gentlemen for assuring that Escambia County is a clean,
healthy place to live. Officer Craig has stayed in touch since our
meeting to monitor some issues that the board brought to his attention
and has been directly instrumental in helping keep the grass properly
mowed along the River Road bike path. The Code Enforcement Office can be
reached at 850-471-6160. Officer Craig can be reached directly at
554-7160.
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