Cape Coral, FL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

The city's declaration of necessity behind § 12-25 states that deteriorated buildings lower property values and have a deleterious effect on surrounding properties, and it cites studies from the Police Executive Research Forum tying urban blight to crime. Subsection (b) lists the conditions that trigger the ordinance: eroded or missing exterior paint that exposes the stucco or wood underneath, discoloration clearly visible from a public vantage point, a crack or hole in an exterior wall, broken or damaged windows, doors, shutters, gutters, soffits, fascia or screens, and roof tiles or shingles missing to the point the gap shows.

Each condition only counts if it is visible from a street, a canal, or an adjoining residential, commercial, institutional or public property, a standard shaped by Cape Coral's canal-front lots as much as its street frontage. Because § 12-25 sets no fine of its own, a violation defaults to the city's general penalty at § 1-14: a minimum fine of $100 and a maximum of $500, plus court costs, or up to 60 days in jail, and every day the condition continues is a separate offense.

13, to impose administrative fines for continuing or repeat property-maintenance violations as an alternative to criminal prosecution. Owners who receive a notice of violation under this chapter should expect the Code Compliance Division, not the Police Department, to be the enforcing office for exterior-condition complaints.