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All Wet

“I’m in compliance of living,” says Robin Speronis, 54, but Special Magistrate Harold S. Eskin says her notion of self sufficiency puts her out of compliance with the Cape Coral, Fla., housing code. “Reasonableness and code requirements don’t always go hand-in-hand,” he said. Speronis uses treated rainwater and solar power instead of the usual utilities, but local law says houses must connect to the public water system if it’s available. In a multi-hour “mental fistfight,” Speronis’s pro bono lawyer got her off on some code charges, and Eskin offered her a stay to appeal the rest. Meanwhile, the city has cut her off from the one utility she was using, saying she hadn’t paid and clearly didn’t intend to. That utility: the sewer. (AC/Fort Myers News-Press) ...But if the city still has sewer access, it can dispose of its code properly.