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Hollywood Home Depot accused of code and zoning violations

By Shannon O'Boye
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 15, 2006

Hollywood · Parking at the Home Depot in Oakwood Plaza has always been tough, so Keith Kotrady cannot fathom why the city would allow the store to convert 100 prime spots into a storage area

Kotrady, a retired police officer and 45-year Hollywood resident, said he has been complaining to the city for six months about what he calls a string of Home Depot code and zoning violations.

He delivered letters and photos in August to the city, outlining his concerns about parking problems, merchandise stacked in fire lanes, and storage sheds sitting in parking spots.

"The city hasn't done anything," said Kotrady, 54. "[Home Depot] is going to do whatever the hell they want to do, and that's not right ... I have no dog in any fight. I just want compliance."

Code Enforcement Director Clay Milan said the Home Depot -- north of Sheridan Street and east of Interstate 95 -- is violating several city regulations.

He said he alerted two assistant managers to the problems after Hurricane Wilma, but on Tuesday a Home Depot spokesman said the store has never been served with any code violation notices.

"I'm in the dark on this one," spokesman Don Harrison said. "We won't run from something. If we're in violation, we have to get back within the code" regulations.

Home Depot stores have been accused of flouting code regulations elsewhere.

It took Pembroke Pines officials three years to get a 1999 pledge from the store at 12800 Pines Blvd. to stop storing sod, mulch and other lawn and garden supplies outside the store.

Residents in Coconut Grove are fighting the opening of a Home Depot store there, in part, because of code violations at another store two miles away.

And Hollywood Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom, a lawyer, said he represented Home Depot last year when Hallandale Beach city officials "shot them down" because they perceived the stores as bad neighbors.

"Unfortunately, that is their reputation," Wasserstrom said. "That's what they do."

Milan said he recently sent the Home Depot managers a letter following up on conversations he had with store supervisors.

Displaying merchandise -- such as the storage sheds -- outside and leaving anything in the fire lanes are clear violations, Milan said, but the other issues are fuzzier.

For example, converting parking spaces into outdoor storage might be OK, he said, if the store still offers the number of parking spaces required by zoning regulations.

Despite Kotrady's multiple complaints to the city, zoning department officials have yet to determine how many spaces Home Depot needs vs. how many they have. Even if the parking lot conversion is allowable, Milan said, Home Depot would need to build a wall or fence around the area.

Also, Milan said storing building materials outside might be OK, if Home Depot had pulled a permit. It didn't.

The city has levied no citations or fines against Home Depot, but that is not unusual, Milan said.

"We frequently try to make personal contact and verbally make someone aware of what the issue is, which is what we did in this case," Milan said. "We go through a process. If that doesn't work, we go to the next step."

Shannon O'Boye can be reached at soboye@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7912.

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