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Owners to level Port Richey flea market but may rebuild

 
Pasco County officials shut down the USA Flea Market after it received hundreds of citations for health and code violations.
Pasco County officials shut down the USA Flea Market after it received hundreds of citations for health and code violations.
Published June 23, 2017

PORT RICHEY — The owners of the recently shuttered USA Flea Market have agreed to demolish all structures on the property, leaving open the possibility of rebuilding the weekend shopping attraction, according to Pasco County officials.

The market owner, NAIDIP 19-52 LLC, reached the settlement agreement with officials this week. All buildings and debris on the 40-acre property along U.S. 19 must be torn down by Sept. 1, and electricity there will be turned off in July, Pasco County spokesman Doug Tobin said.

The settlement allows the owners to keep the main flea market building's wood and steel skeleton structure, documents show.

"The owner asked for this option to assess whether the original support poles can be used in possible future construction of a new, open-air flea market," Tobin said.

The market was ordered to immediately cease all operations on June 14 after receiving hundreds of citations. Buildings there don't have functioning fire alarms and sprinkler systems, have exposed electrical wiring and lack clear exits, according to the county Fire Marshal's Office.

Three people from Tampa that state records show are associated with the company — Rajendra Patel, Jayesh Patel and Kirit Patel — could not immediately be reached for comment.

Officials inspected the premises in April after investigating an auto sales business there. County inspectors characterized the flea market, which had been in business for five decades, as a fire trap. Rafters were splitting and sagging, they said, and pieces of wall were falling off.

The entire property had last been inspected in 2006, according to county documents. The flea market was issued more than 600 safety and code citations that year, but officials did not follow up on those violations, records show.

The county adopted a new approach to code enforcement in April, reflecting a "significant change in philosophy," Tobin said. The county has shifted from complaint-based inspections to a more proactive method that involves identifying high-risk properties and then monitoring them, he said.

The market was a venue for about 70 vendors during weekends, and a week-round home for about a dozen businesses — including appliance repair shops, window tinting services and tire dealers — at the front of the property.

Several former USA Flea Market merchants are now selling goods at the Oldsmar Flea Market, according to County Commissioner Jack Mariano.

This will not be the first time parts of the flea market has been leveled. In 1993, a fire caused $4.5 million in damage.