Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross that the violation(s) do exist and the violator(s) who are not present are deemed to have admitted guilt. She further ordered that they be given the number of days recommended by the Code Enforcement Officer on the case summary sheet to come into compliance or they would be fined the amount also shown on the summary sheet.
 

Building Dept. Investigator (BDI) Coss read the facts of the case and presented photos which were marked as composite Exhibit 1. He asked to amend the violation ordinance from section 5-1.105.1 to section 22-193 (2) land clearing permit.  He stated that the violator is aware of this change. He advised that the owner has received a variance and temporary use at this location contingent upon obtaining a building permit. He also asked to amend the daily fine and treat it as irreversible; allow 120 days to obtain a permit and comply with all permit conditions or a fine of $2,500.00 would be assessed. 

Uriel Moreira Jr. came forward and was sworn in for testimony.  He stated that this was the first time he had invested in property and he had hired  ADC Contractors to help him.  He stated that the City is requiring him to submit plans for his building in order to get a permit and in order to get the plans, he has to buy the building. He is currently in negotiations with a vender regarding the down payment needed to get the plans. 

SM Ross asked how far along he was in obtaining a permit.  Mr. Moreira said the City already has about 95% of the paperwork to get the permit and they are just waiting on getting the plans for the building. He was not planning on buying the building at this stage but he will do what is necessary to follow the rules.

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross that a violation of section 22-193 (2) existed but has been cured as of the date of this hearing. The violator(s) shall be warned that if these violations reoccur, pursuant to FL Statute 162.09, the Code Officer may notify the Special Magistrate and request that a fine be entered. She did state this was without prejudice and that he still had to comply with the City code.
 

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross that the violation(s) do exist and the violator(s) who are not present are deemed to have admitted guilt. She further ordered that they be given the number of days recommended by the Code Enforcement Officer on the case summary sheet to come into compliance or they would be fined the amount also shown on the summary sheet.
 

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross that the violation(s) do exist and the violator(s) who are not present are deemed to have admitted guilt. She further ordered that they be given the number of days recommended by the Code Enforcement Officer on the case summary sheet to come into compliance or they would be fined the amount also shown on the summary sheet.
 

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross that the violation(s) do exist and the violator(s) who are not present are deemed to have admitted guilt. She further ordered that they be given the number of days recommended by the Code Enforcement Officer on the case summary sheet to come into compliance or they would be fined the amount also shown on the summary sheet.
 

Peggy Arraiz read in the facts of the case.  Ms. Salinas obtained a permit to repair the building, but it did not address the code violation, which was for painting the building. The confusion was due to the fact that the case was initiated by Shaun Coss and after he transferred to the Building Department, she continued to work with him. She did not realize her case with the Code Enforcement Department was separate.  She is asking that we allow her more time; however, because the violations did not come into compliance in the time allotted the fines did start.  Because Ms. Salinas does have an active building permit, the City is recommending to stop the accrual of the fines and give her additional time to comply. After the officer inspects and determines the violations have been corrected she can come before the Special Magistrate and ask for a reduction/rescindment.

Maria Salinas was sworn in for testimony. She said in addition to what staff already explained, all the mail was going to her old address in Vero Beach. She only learned of the fines when a letter was forwarded to her new address. She believed that this was all one department and that the code violations were being addressed by the permit.

Peggy Arraiz advised Ms. Salinas that as of December 2015 the Property Appraiser's office still had her Vero Beach address on file and that she (Ms. Salinas) needed to go to the St Lucie County building at the corner of Virginia and 25th Street to make sure they had her proper mailing address.

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross after reviewing the 3 criteria required by Rule 16 and after considering the facts she ordered the fines be stopped and allow the violator(s) to bring the violations into compliance. When this has been done the violator can come back before her to request a reduction or rescindment.
 

Peggy Arraiz read the facts of the case.  She stated that Mr. Samuells was coming before the Special Magistrate to request more time; however, the fines have started and the property is still not in compliance.  

William R. Samuells was sworn in for testimony.  He stated that no one has any money and will never have any money. He bought the house for $9,000 to die in, not to fix up and sell. Last year he contacted about a dozen charitable organizations but there is no money to help him with this problem. He stated that William C. Samuells was his son and he is currently in the Air Force stationed overseas. He plans to leave the house to his son when he dies.

Peggy Arraiz recommended to the Special Magistrate that she put a cap on the fines so that it doesn't accrue and put a burden on his son.

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross after reviewing the 3 criteria required by Rule 16 and after considering the facts she ordered that the fines stop accruing as of this date for six months, if the violation(s) are not in compliance within the next 6 months the fines will resume accruing but they are not to exceed $7,500.00.
 

Peggy Arraiz read the facts of the case.  She stated that the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser has the owners of the property listed as Willie, Jennifer, and Glenn Keith.  At the time the case was initiated it did not list any other people as owners.  On July 30, 2015 the Code Enforcement Officer inspected the property, the violations were not corrected; therefore, he started the fines.

Before recording a lien on property, we check the files for any errors, check the Clerk of Court records to make sure there is no foreclosure pending or any other legal action being sought.  At that time we found the certificate of title, which listed additional heirs with their addresses.  I instructed Colleen to send a copy of the Order with a letter to each one of them. Shortly after we received a phone call from Attorney Margaret Benton who was representing Dr. William A. Keith who resides in North Carolina.

On November 5, 2015 Staff notified Ms. Benton that the property was now in compliance and the fines had stopped.  We received a reduction request from Dr. Keith on November 20.  Staff understands that he never received any notice of the violations and that as soon as he did become aware of them, he proceeded to have them corrected.  Staff would be willing to reduce the fines to the administrative costs of approximately $700.00.

Dr. William Keith was sworn in for testimony.  He said he was representing himself and Ms. Benton would not be there.  He stated that his brother Willie Keith usually picked up the mail but when his wife became ill and needed continuous care, he stopped.  No one had picked it up since.  He claimed the City's notice was deficient because he had no official notice of the violations until he received our notice in October.  He said he thought all he had to do was cover the broken windows. He did not know that he had to cover all of the windows and paint them.

Ms. Arraiz advised Dr. Keith to contact the property appraiser to make sure that they had a valid mailing address on file.

Asst. City Attorney McCain explained that the City's notice was not deficient as the notice was properly sent to the address on file with the Property Appraiser. He reiterated to Dr. Keith the need to ensure a valid mailing address is on file with their office. Attorney McCain also restated that when Dr. Keith received the notice he did not wait 6 months to correct the violations; he did it right away.

Motion was made by Special Magistrate Fran O. Ross after reviewing the 3 criteria required by Rule 16 and after considering the facts she ordered the fines be reduced to $100.00 payable within 30 days. If not paid within this time frame the fines would revert back to the original amount and a lien would be recorded at the St. Lucie County Clerk of Court’s Office.