Pink house draws ire from neighbors

In the front yard of the three-story pink house that fronts the Sleepy Lagoon neighborhood, multiple boats have sat unmoved for months, and weeds are sprouting under and around a trailer. Landscaping is in rough shape in general, a boat has sunk in the canal and the pool out back is no longer blue.

Neighbors have had enough, and showed up in force to a recent community meeting to share their frustrations with Longboat Key town staff.

“It’s a big problem. We’ve done a count. There are four boats, none of them are functional as far as we can tell. There are five trailers, there’s a utility trailer full of dirt and weeds. There’s a golf cart, a car that doesn’t run, a lawnmower, boat engine parts all around the pool,” described Norton Street resident Belinda Bauer. “There’s a boat sunken in the canal. The dock is hanging halfway broken and submerged in the water.”

The former owner of the house at 501 General Harris St. died in 2019, leaving the property to his beneficiaries. It has not been well maintained, and payments on the mortgage have fallen behind.

Last August, the process to foreclose the house began. According to court documents, $1.3 million is owed to U.S. Bank Trust National Association for the property. 

The town of Longboat Key has also taken action. Electricity and water service has been shut off to the house, and fines have racked up for code violations. Town Manager Howard Tipton described the issues at the property as “a classic code enforcement case.”

“The town has very much been on top of this property going back to 2022. It’s been accruing daily fines since 2022. The last I checked those fines are up over $50,000,” Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said. “Last year the town engaged an attorney to proceed with foreclosure on the property. The town is second in line behind the bank on that.”

At the April 14 Let’s Talk Longboat meeting, residents urged the town to do more, citing the condemnation and potential demolition of the Half Moon House at Gulfside Road as an example of a potential path forward.

Parsons said the steps taken for the Half Moon House are not applicable for the pink house because the issues are for aesthetics, not safety.

“It would have to be in an unsafe structural condition to be condemned. There’s not evidence that it’s unsafe structurally thus far. It’s certainly in disrepair, but not necessarily to a point where you can condemn the property,” Parsons said. “I share the dissatisfaction here with everyone, just one thing to be able to convey is that there are a lot of legal impediments to government just being able to come into people’s properties and sort of take care of things. It has to go through legal steps in order for the government to be able to do something. You can’t just condemn someone’s property because it’s unsightly.”

Photo by S.T. Cardinal

With debris scattered across the yard, the pool unmaintained and no fence around the property, the house has become a safety concern, neighbors claimed. Broker and Realtor Keith Redding, who has the house next door listed for sale, echoed that concern.

“I wanted to make sure the township understood and weren’t looking past that this is, first and foremost, a safety issue,” Redding said. “You have a delivery driver or someone that’s an inspector, there’s so many potentials for injury.”

Parsons said that the options the town has to remedy the situation have been taken.

“It has to go through the legal steps of foreclosure,” Parsons said to the group of frustrated neighbors. “It is turning slowly, so please do recognize that the town shares your frustrations.”

According to court documents, repeated attempts by multiple process servers to locate any of the property owners have been unsuccessful. Process Server Roy Middleton wrote that while attempting to serve the documents at the house, he saw a light on inside the house and multiple cars in the driveway, heard voices and taped a note to the door.

“The people residing in this home are clearly avoiding service,” Middleton wrote.

A virtual court hearing is scheduled in the foreclosure case on May 7 via Zoom.