ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — A man who has "gone rogue" and "hijacking the code enforcement process" – that's how a situation was described in St. Johns County on Tuesday when it came to – of all things, yard pavers.
Nicknamed 'The Paver Guy,' Zach Schwermer has turned in hundreds of people to code enforcement for a little-known rule regarding pavers, as the topic and issue to some, bubbled up during a county commission meeting this week.
"I’m here about the complaint for the sidewalks, the pavers," said Pat Phillips, presenting her paver case to the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners during the meeting Tuesday.
She is one of hundreds of people who were reported to the St. Johns County code enforcement in the last two years... all for the same violation – yard pavers were closer than three feet from the property line.
"My pavers do not flood my neighbor's yard," Phillips told commissioners.
Phillips said she had the pavers professionally installed "because of the close proximity of the houses, there was a lack of sunlight causing a swampy mess and nearly impossible to grow grass."
At least three other people went to the county commission meeting on Tuesday, asking to also keep their pavers in place. One of them told commissioners, "The actions taken by him are outright egregious."
Schwermer had also been reported to the code enforcement for the same paver violation. And the county told him he had to move the pavers in his yard.
In April, Schwermer told First Coast News, "So, we’ve gone down the route to show them [county leaders] that, 'Look, there are problems. You need to look at these problems. And we do expect to be treated equally to everybody.'"
His neighbor said Schwermer’s pavers force water to flood her side yard. Schwermer says they don’t.
On Tuesday, Schwermer told First Coast News he reported 100 more people to law enforcement before the county commission meeting began. In the meeting, commissioners said he has swamped the county with these complaints.
"We had one individual who has gone a bit rogue," Commissioner Sarah Arnold said. "The codes are there for a reason, but also the abuse of the code enforcement is a problem," Commissioner Krista Keating Joseph added.
County attorney Rich Komando noted that the county had now created a second tier system where complaints that don’t demand immediate attention will be addressed later, "otherwise it would completely hijack our code enforcement process."
The county commission and attorney resolved to not take the hundreds of violation complaints seriously, at least for now.
"We are on top of it. We are watching it, and right now there is absolutely nothing for you guys to worry about," Arnold addressed the people who had paver complaints filed against them by Schwermer in the meeting.
"Oh good. Thank you," Phillips said with a sigh.