The poster child for blight along U.S. 41 just got put up for adoption.
This week, a front-end loader deposited piles of wood and concrete into dump truck beds on the lot at 4610 Land O’Lakes Blvd. The rubble is the former home of McFarlane’s Appliance Center and, at one time, had been a truck stop and a used car lot. The 63-year-old building sat vacant for years, and crews finally demolished it, a few months after Pasco County condemned the property.
But here’s the deal: The owner, a Tampa-based limited liability corporation called Courtyard at Land O’ Lakes, didn’t have to knock down the building because Pasco County, as a matter of routine, focuses its demolition efforts on residential buildings.
That is about to change. On Oct. 20, commissioners will consider a proposed ordinance from Commissioner Mike Moore that puts a new emphasis on repairing or removing commercial slums. Essentially, building owners will face citations and eventual fines if their vacant commercial property remains in decay. The idea is for owners to either make the needed repairs or knock down the structures rather than face fines accumulating at $500 per day.