More than 200 Cape Coral property owners will be walking into City Hall in the coming days to prove they didn’t violate the city’s building code.
According to the city, 207 properties were served with Notices of Violation after being identified by FEMA as having had unpermitted work.
That unpermitted work is one of the reasons FEMA listed for stripping the city of its 25% flood insurance discount.
Except some of the homeowners in front of a Special Magistrate on Tuesday say they never had any work done on their homes.
“Why are we here? Why did they cite me? Why did FEMA choose my home?” Patricia Flynn asked in the public hearing.
Flynn says her home never sustained damage during Hurricane Ian, despite living in a flood zone.
Therefore, she and her husband never filed for any work permits.
She was still served with a Notice of Violation.
“I feel like I’ve done something wrong, when I’ve done nothing wrong,” Flynn said.
The Special Magistrate agreed and let the Flynn’s go free.
While Fox 4 cameras were inside the public hearings Tuesday morning, multiple homeowners had similar stories that they never had any work done on their property.
While other homeowners, didn’t believe they did anything wrong.
“I hired a licensed contractor who has been in town forever,” one woman told the panel.
The Special Magistrate hearings last until Friday.
Residents who do not show up risk a fine of $1,000 a day.
