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Cycle Shop Site Clean Enough For Judge

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By KATHY STEELE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2007

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - A cycle shop owner facing a possible jail sentence over code violations has cleaned up his property enough to earn a time extension.

In June, city code enforcement inspectors cited Scott Bitman of Cycle Masters, 7601 N. Nebraska Ave., for piles of junk and debris and a fence in disrepair. At a hearing in August, Hillsborough County Judge James Dominguez gave him a month to correct the problems.

'He has started on the property but still has a ways to go,' code enforcement officer Bill Davidson said at a hearing Thursday.

Dominguez told Bitman to return to court Oct. 18 for an update.

The judge quickly took exception to a woman in the courtroom who shook her head and appeared unhappy with his decision. Dominguez said the court is getting results.

'The day he doesn't do that, I'm going to put him in jail, and then the property is not going to get any better,' he said.

After the hearing, Bitman produced a letter from the city's land development office granting him a setback waiver for a storage building. He said the concrete block structure will replace a shed the city says is too close to the street.
Bitman owes more than $110,000 in fines that were imposed by the code enforcement board relating to the shed and illegal street parking. The fines continue to climb at $80 a day, records show.

In May, the board imposed $100 daily fines, effective July 26, in a case involving failure to obtain a permit for the foundation of a rear wall and failure to stop work until the permit was obtained.

There are no fines related to the criminal court case.

With the waiver, Bitman said he hopes to begin construction on the storage building soon. He said he took down a fence and plans to build a wall.

In addition to removing debris, Bitman said he mowed the grass at a vacant house behind his cycle shop.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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