JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a 4-year-old girl drowned in the pool of a Westside home over the weekend, News4Jax uncovered multiple complaints filed with the city of Jacksonville over the condition of the pool, which led to code enforcement citing the owner of the home, but failed to fix what neighbors called an accident waiting to happen.
The complaints were made by a neighbor in July, who told the city the pool in the back yard of the home on Cedar Oaks Drive was, "Unsanitary and that there were dead dogs in the pool."
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The last time the city checked on the home was on Oct. 16, and the report filed by code enforcement said the violations were not corrected, but that the homeowners have until April 21, 2016, to fix the problems.
The owner of the home has not spoken about the incident or the condition of the pool, but neighbors like Roger Lynch, have said that the city has some responsibility on what he called an accident waiting to happen.
"Gail (Spencer) seems to be a nice lady, but I know the city just spent $86,000 repairing her house for her at the cost of the taxpayer and they never did anything with the pool, however they continue to cite the pool the whole time for it being green and nasty. It's a mosquito pit and obviously a hazard for children," Lynch said.
Lynch said the swimming pool where Alana Scott drowned Sunday afternoon has been a problem for decades, and though he was shocked the accident happened, he's not surprised.
"Shocking would be a better word. Surprised? No. I use to be in the pool business. It attracts kids. They want to play. They may walk across it, but it was an accident waiting to happen," Lynch said.
When the city went out to investigate the situation in July, they issued several citations, saying the swimming pool's; "Water clarity and quality is a threat to or endangerment to public health and safety due to lack of visibility of the main drain gate."
The report also said the owner told the city, "This is her yard and that she can do whatever she wants to do, and it's not the right of the city to tell her how to keep her place clean."
According to the Municipal Code Compliance Division there are four active enforcement cases at the home and the status of the active enforcements cases are:
• Nuisance Pool – MCCD conducted an investigation at this address on July 23, 2015, after being flagged down by a neighbor who voiced concerns about the condition of a swimming pool that was located in the rear of this property. The neighbor invited the investigating Code Officer to the rear of their property to observe possible code violations at 5766 Cedar Oaks Drive. This inspection revealed that the swimming pool (CARE issues 2015-198838) and the exterior premises (CARE issue 2015-198903) were in violation of the Property Safety & Maintenance Code due to the poor water quality and clarity and the large amount of trash, tree debris and improperly stored items observed on the premises. The property owner was cited accordingly. A Notice of Violation was forwarded to the owner of record and due process was afforded for correction of the violations cited. Due to non-compliance of these violations, a hearing has been scheduled before the Special Magistrate on November 12, 2015 at 10 am. Since the initial inspection, Ms. Gail Spencer (property owner), has contacted and visited MCCD's office to advise that she has no money to comply with the violations cited.
Nuisance – MCCD conducted this inspection at this location while addressing concerns voiced by neighbors in reference to a dirty swimming pool. During this inspection, the investigating Code Officer observed trash, tree debris and improperly stored items on the exterior of the premises. The property owner was cited accordingly and due to non-compliance, a hearing has been scheduled before the Special Magistrate on November 12, 2015 at 10 am.
Junk/abandoned vehicle – MCCD conducted this inspection on October 16, 2015 after observing a Red Honda Accord stored on the premises with an expired license plate. The vehicle was cited accordingly and a Notice of Violation was forwarded to the property owner (CARE issue 2016-12183). After due process has been afforded to the property owner, a re-inspection will be conducted on November 3, 2015 to determine compliance.
Residential – MCCD conducted an inspection of the interior of the structure at this location on November 13, 2012 at the request of the tenant (CARE issue 2013-17179). This inspection revealed violations of the maintenance section of the Property Safety & Maintenance Code and the property owner was cited accordingly. Due to non-compliance, this case was heard before a Special Magistrate on April 29, 2013, who levied a $100 per day Administrative fine on the property. The Administrative fine is currently $91,000 to date.
News4Jax Crime and Safety Analyst Gil Smith said regardless of the code violations, the pool was not properly secure.
"The fence that's boarding the property is not a legitimate fence to have around the pool. A pool fence must be all the way around the pool, and it must be at least four feet tall," Smith said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating the drowning, and the police report said Alana's grandmother reported her missing for about five minutes and feared she may have been in the pool.
When rescuers arrived at the home around 1 p.m. they jumped into the pool, found Alana, and pulled her out, but she was unresponsive.
Alana's parents reached out to News4Jax and said Alana was the youngest of the three children and are asking the community to keep their family in their prayers and have set up a GoFundMe account to help cover Alana's funeral service.