Florida City to Evict Woman from Her Paid-for House for Living "Off the Grid" (Cape Coral: foreclosure, HOA)

[dlk35]

Cape woman being kicked out of her home - YouTube

Trying to live a sustainable and renewable lifestyle? Well if you live in the South-West Florida town of Cape Coral, it could get you evicted from your own home.
Robin Speronis found a notice on her door that called her home uninhabitable even though officials have never seen the inside. Why the Notice? Because Speronis does not use city water and is not connected the the electrical grid. Instead, she uses her own water and gas for cooking and provides her own electricity.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by dlk35

Cape woman being kicked out of her home - YouTube

Trying to live a sustainable and renewable lifestyle? Well if you live in the South-West Florida town of Cape Coral, it could get you evicted from your own home.
Robin Speronis found a notice on her door that called her home uninhabitable even though officials have never seen the inside. Why the Notice? Because Speronis does not use city water and is not connected the the electrical grid. Instead, she uses her own water and gas for cooking and provides her own electricity.

One has to wonder What she does for a toilet.

Gary

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by MartyGras

One has to wonder What she does for a toilet.

Gary

Well water and septic tank?

[Compression]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

Well water and septic tank?

While no address was given in the story, the areas just off of Del Prado Blvd are serviced by city water and sewer.

Cape Coral city council has a dubious reputation, and history at best.

The city was living high on the hog during the boom years, then became one of the top five foreclosure areas in the nation for a while. They use code enforcement and the police department as revenue generators to replace the tax base lost over the past five years.

This story does not surprise me.

CN.......

[Kim in FL]

The city of Cape Coma has more regulations and ordinances than any other city I know. while I have no issue with what she's doing, (saw the news interview awhile back) she should've chose a city not so law laden and money hungry.

[SW_Pirate]

I am the last person who would defend a government taking unjust action against an individual, yet in this case you have to follow the trail a little.
This individual is the author of a book entitled:
"Off The Grid Living In Southwest Florida- One Women's Story: Volume I" and the owner of Off The Grid Living, Inc..
That being said, I followed the links Off The Grid Living In Southwest Florida: One Woman's Story and Adventures and Off The Grid Living, Inc. President Robin Speronis Writes Second Book - PR.com and did further checking with leeclerk.org and found quite a bit of information that led me to believe that the current level of publicity may have been motivated by her personal ambitions.

I agree that the City of Cape Coral is being governed as if the recent economic and housing crisis is over and we can return to business as usual which is far from reality. I could go on, but that would be off topic.

[Samiamnh]

Personal ambitions or not......it's her house and her life style....who is she hurting?
I thought government was supposed to help people.Disgraceful

[nhkev]

as usual I am going to take the complete opposite side of this issue. props to the women if she wants to lower her carbon foot print or save money by being energy independent or conservative, but.... Wrong place to do it. Cape Coral in many ways is like a large HOA and there are plenty of codes that resemble covenants and restrictions. If it is the city charter for everyone to hook up to city services than the homeowner has NO CHOICE. it is no different than the argument of someone that has a well septic but doesn't want to hook up to city water and sewer... you've got no choice, it is in the Charter you have to. If you don't want to accept these codes you don't live here. If everyone said they were not going to hook up it would become very unsanitary there. As far as electricity. When someone gets a certificate of occupancy they need to have it hooked up. whether they use it or not is another issue as well as if they solar or wind. But the codes are the codes you cannot hand pick which ones you feel are ok. this is just like a lot of other codes (such as trailers) one person may have a very nice trailer that they keep registered in good condition, but it opens the doors to the eyesores and junk yards if you allowed people to do it.

[arleigh]

Ideally yes you are right ,
When you buy a home in an area you have to agree to the housing codes of that area .
It would be best for her to move to an area she can live the way she wants to but that would mean sacrificing her friends and others whom she benefits by her involvement .
From the short view of the home that area is not what I would call hi dollar .
It appears the she is using rain water for her toilet , big deal .

Her home is clean and so is her yard . They would probably jump on her if she had a garden going as well.
She is better off moving , from my own experience in these matters .

[ByeByeLW]

This really is interesting. I'm not familiar with Cape Coral at all. Is it rural or just a small lot suburb?

When I look at rural areas in Florida, it seems like many county areas are being annexed by cities, and codes keep getting stricter.

Where I live you can't have a clothesline. If you have it hidden behind foliage, or a fence...so what. If your nosey neighbor sees it and complains, it's technically against the rules and you get fined.

I happen to like hanging out clothes, and I dye fabric, so I want a clothesline, dammit . One of the reasons I have to move.

This poor woman is probably better off moving. I can imagine the hell she'd go through staying here.