House in PSL with permanent shutters up (Miami, Coral Gables: appliances, houses)

[PortStLucieWater]

I recently discovered that PSL code only allows shutters to stay up for 15 days after a storm. This piqued my interest as I recall this house on Bayshore near Crosstown Pkwy that has had it's shutters up ever since I moved to this area. If you look the address up on Google maps street view you can see that they have had their shutters up since at least 2011.

This house has an incredible amount of night time lighting with 10 spot lights on just the front eaves of the house.

It looks like Fort Knox at night time. Another strange thing about this property is that they have a fence around the entire property including a sliding driveway gate. This style is very popular in Miami but rare to see here.

The address is: 657 SW Carter Ave

Does anybody have any info on this house?

Street view URL https://www.google.com/maps/@27.2945...8i6656!6m1!1e1

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by PortStLucieWater

I recently discovered that PSL code only allows shutters to stay up for 15 days after a storm. This piqued my interest as I recall this house on Bayshore near Crosstown Pkwy that has had it's shutters up ever since I moved to this area. If you look the address up on Google maps street view you can see that they have had their shutters up since at least 2011.

This house has an incredible amount of night time lighting with 10 spot lights on just the front eaves of the house.

It looks like Fort Knox at night time. Another strange thing about this property is that they have a fence around the entire property including a sliding driveway gate. This style is very popular in Miami but rare to see here.

The address is: 657 SW Carter Ave

Does anybody have any info on this house?

Street view URL https://www.google.com/maps/@27.2945...8i6656!6m1!1e1

You might be able to find out who owns it by accessing your county's property appraiser website. Or if you enter the address on Zillow, there may be a link to to the county government site where information on the house is accessible.

Do you ever see anyone there? Or caretakers?

[PortStLucieWater]

I have never seen anybody or any cars there -- I did look up the names on Property appraiser

[FlaLadyB]

Well, from the photo its a nice looking house, but its ON Bayshore. They've fenced everything and everywhere you could including gating the driveway. Your answer is to call the city and ask....

[froglipz]

Call code enforcement!

[JERSEY MAN]

I have shutters on my property. I leave them up from May until I get down next week. Many snowbirds do this.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by JERSEY MAN

I have shutters on my property. I leave them up from May until I get down next week. Many snowbirds do this.

As I probably would do if I were a snowbird. I'm not aware of any laws against leaving shutters up, I think the restrictions about shutters comes from HOAs and local ordinances in some deed restricted municipalities (Coral Gables comes to mind.) They'd be the ones putting the restrictions on how long you can leave shutters up after a storm.

The only comments I have seen from most municipalities regarding leaving shutters up are cautions that doing so may compromise the occupants'ability to escape the dwelling in the event of a fire, which would be a consideration, but not for snowbirds if no one is in the house. The other thing I have seen them mention is that having the shutters up for long periods of time outside of storm conditions is that this signals there is no one in the house, which might make it easier for break-ins and robberies. That could be an issue, but it depends on what precautions have been taken to mitigate the possibility of an unoccupied house being robbed.

We've lived in FL for 40 years, and have put up/taken down shutters and made other hurricane preparations too many times to count. It's hard work, no matter, and while I'm really grateful when those preparations have been made and we didn't need them because the storm passed us by, I still don't want to spend hurricane seasons repeatedly putting up shutters and taking them down. So a long time ago we figured we put them up at the first hurricane warning of the season that we get, and leave most of them up till the end of the season. We take some of them down in the areas we spend the most time in, to avoid as mich as possible that dark claustrophobic feeling, but that's it.

[missguided1]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

As I probably would do if I were a snowbird. I'm not aware of any laws against leaving shutters up, I think the restrictions about shutters comes from HOAs and local ordinances in some deed restricted municipalities (Coral Gables comes to mind.) They'd be the ones putting the restrictions on how long you can leave shutters up after a storm.

The only comments I have seen from most municipalities regarding leaving shutters up are cautions that doing so may compromise the occupants'ability to escape the dwelling in the event of a fire, which would be a consideration, but not for snowbirds if no one is in the house. The other thing I have seen them mention is that having the shutters up for long periods of time outside of storm conditions is that this signals there is no one in the house, which might make it easier for break-ins and robberies. That could be an issue, but it depends on what precautions have been taken to mitigate the possibility of an unoccupied house being robbed.

We've lived in FL for 40 years, and have put up/taken down shutters and made other hurricane preparations too many times to count. It's hard work, no matter, and while I'm really grateful when those preparations have been made and we didn't need them because the storm passed us by, I still don't want to spend hurricane seasons repeatedly putting up shutters and taking them down. So a long time ago we figured we put them up at the first hurricane warning of the season that we get, and leave most of them up till the end of the season. We take some of them down in the areas we spend the most time in, to avoid as mich as possible that dark claustrophobic feeling, but that's it.

I saw an article in the Naples newspaper where vacant houses with the shutters up were being broken into by drug rings. They sneak around to the most hidden side of the house at night, pry open a shutter, slip inside and pull the shutter closed behind them to make it unnoticeable. Then they set up a lab to cook crack or meth. Because all of the shutters are in place, they get to walk around inside without fear of being spotted so they can work uninterrupted all day long. If they take the time to seal up any light leaks, they can even work at night.

Anyway, they stay for as couple of weeks coming and going by cover of darkness while manufacturing their "drug de jour". When they fear discovery by either the cops or a rival drug ring, they move out the way they came in. As they leave they strip the inside of the house of all of its copper wire (yes, right out of the drywall), dismantle the hot water tank, appliances, light fixtures. ceiling fans, etc. and sell it all at the local scrap yard. The small appliances are fenced or pawned. Some they even donate to Habitat Restore and everyone thinks the donor is a real peach of a guy. Who would even suspect??

Deploying your hurricane shutters and leaving town is an open invitation for coming back to a completely stripped out winter retreat and you will have no idea what awaits you until you open the front door after a long, exhausting drive south.

[missguided1]

Originally Posted by froglipz

Call code enforcement!

Why in the world would you call code enforcement??

[v2.0]

call the poleece!