Photo by Ethan Perelstein
The April 9 Town of Kenneth City Council meeting saw the first reading of two new ordinances, the introduction of a new town employee, and comments from council members.
New Zoning Ordinance
The first new ordinance, 001-2025, changes the rules for planning and zoning in Kenneth City to allow general commercial use in the light industrial zone. This rule change means that the Town won’t need to change the borders or designation of the light industrial zone in order to allow vacant lots to be filled with new business in Kenneth City.
“We believe this will have a positive business impact on the town and a positive impact on the town budget through increased tax valuation,” City Attorney Ralf Brookes said.
Council approved Ordinance 001-2025 on the first reading. Along with that, Council will hear it again with more detail and to vote on it at a future meeting.
Read what we overheard at the April 9 Kenneth City Council meeting.
Modernizing the Tree Ordinance
The second ordinance, 002-2025, was sponsored by the town manager to modernize the tree ordinance in Kenneth City.
The current ordinance, approved in 1990 gave the mayor the power and responsibility to issue permits for tree removal. However, in 2016, Kenneth City converted to a town-manager-strong system of government, giving all executive power to the town manager. This outdated ordinance gives the mayor’s office disproportionate power in a town manager system. Ordinance 002-2025 moves the approving authority for tree felling permits from the mayor to the town manager.
While Ordinance 002-2025 gives the town manager the power to approve or deny permits, appeals still go to council for final decision. Town Attorney Brookes noted that appeals are rare, but if a resident disagrees with Town Manager Don King’s decision, they can take it to council. Other than modernizing the ordinance, 002-2025 details which trees require permitting to remove, allowed species, what to do with dead or diseased trees, and other tree removal related regulation.
“It doesn’t make sense to have the mayor issuing tree permits,” Brookes said. “It kind of goes beyond the stroke and duties of the mayor as we have set up in the charter.”
Ordinance 002-2025 passed on first reading.
Photo by Ethan Perelstein
Meet Ben Crisp, the New Code Enforcement Officer
After ordinance readings, Town Manager King introduced Ben Crisp, the Town’s new code enforcement officer. Crisp has been on the job about a month now. Crisp’s job is to spend his day driving the town, looking for code violations, and working with residents to rectify them. Additionally, he will respond to code violation calls and texts instead of Kenneth City Police Department to document and report — with neither a uniform or a gun. Before this job, Crisp worked in regulatory standards and standards compliance, and he claimed have a gift for arbitration.
“As far as code compliance are concerned, often it’s a black and white issue, and often it’s a very grey issue where you swim in a sea of ambiguity,” Crisp said. “The best thing to do is sit down and discuss the issue. I tend to ask a lot of questions… I look forward to working with you all, feel free to give me a call.”
Read about the April 7 Kenneth City Special Council Meeting.
Following Up on Monday’s Special Meeting
On April 7, Council held a special meeting to discuss alleged misconduct by Council member Bonnie Noble. Noble was not in attendance for the special meeting, and took five minutes to respond during her council comment.
Noble began with saying that she didn’t attend the special meeting by advice of counsel and for medical reasons.
“I have taken a review of the meeting. I certainly do have several things I would like to say about that,” she said.
Additionally, she denied that she held pizza parties in the community hall. This is one of the instances of her accused use of Town buildings unauthorized.
“I don’t know where this allegation came from,” Noble said. “It’s totally ridiculous, a pizzagate, and much ado about nothing.”
Photo by Ethan Perelstein
She then noted the security cameras in the building, and asked to see the footage of her alleged infraction.
“There was also an allegation that I treat Town employees bad,” she said. “This is absolutely untrue. I have always treated employees with the utmost respect and regard.”
Noble said that the evidence in the documents from the last meeting came from an employee who “worked for the town for only 10 months, and that was over three years ago.”
“I have been a council member for over five years and I’ve had a great working relationship with the Town employees who did their job,” Noble said.
Good News and Thanks
“It’s unfortunate that we have to use this valuable time as council members and to put our Kenneth City residents through issues like this. We have much more important things to do,” Noble said.
She then reported the State of Florida approved Kenneth City’s comprehensive plan and found it to be in compliance with State law for the first time in more than a decade.
“That was a huge accomplishment, and we have been praised for that,” she said.
Noble finished with thanks.
“I want to give a huge thanks to the community. I’ve heard from so many people since Monday [the day of the special meeting], it’s unbelievable,” she said. “I want to thank the community for their support and how kind they’ve been. I really do appreciate it.”
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