e good afternoon everyone welcome to the city of madira beach code enforcement hearing my name is Bart Valdez and I'm the appointed special magistrate to hear today's cases I'm a practicing attorney and have been a member of the fora bar for over 20 years I've have been appointed to this position in accordance with the authority set forth in chapter 162 Florida Statutes it is my role to fairly and objectively review the matters presented as such I would like to advise you of certain matters related to today's proceedings today's matters will be heard in the order that they appear on the agenda every effort will be made to hear all persons having relevant evidence argument or comments to offer related to the specific case that is being heard if you wish to speak today it is necessary that you be sworn in in just a few moments in all cases since the city has the burden approv the city will present its case first the respondent or property owner then will be given the opportunity to refute the city's allegations formal Rules of Evidence do not apply to this proceeding however I will exert every effort to ensure that fundamental fairness is afforded to all parties after hearing all relevant evidence I will issue an order the order will thereafter be reduced to writing and you'll be provided with a copy by mail therefore please make sure we have your correct address Additionally you advis that I do not have the authority to Grant you a variance permit or special exception of any kind my role is solely to determine whether a city code has been violated and to provide you a reasonable time to correct the violation by whatever means is available to you please be advised that you may be subject to a fine and a lean may be recorded on your property if the violation is not corrected by the compliance deadline if you wish to present any information to me today it is necessary that you swear or affirm that you will tell the truth therefore at this point in time the city attorney will swear on any Witnesses and this includes any members of the public that intend to speak today you stand up raise your right hand I'm going to swear you under oath anyone that's going to speak today swear the testimony you're about to give is going to be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes okay thank you all right and just a a comment on the agenda before we get started there are two code enforcement matters today it looks like there was a variance for 1450 West Parsley Drive that's been proposed uh postponed right Mr that's correct all right so if you are here for the variance today that matter has been postponed and will not be heard on today's agenda so with that we'll start with the First Code Enforcement case which is 2023 3709 for the property located at 14906 North Bayshore Drive is the city ready to proceed we are go ahead Mr tras the city would call Grace Mills as it's witness in this code enforcement case Grace uh if you could State your occupation your job responsibilities here at the city um I'm Grace Mills code compliance officer for the city um I deal with unpermitted work and um issuing permits through the billing department okay are you familiar with this property located at 14906 North Bay Shore Drive here in Madera Beach I am yes okay did you do some type of proactive code enforcement on this case yes it was proactive okay who's the owner of this property and how do you know that um Cara and mckenny if you look on pages three four oh we'll start with Pages three and four this is the property appraiser um stating the homeowner caran mckenny and then if you go to page six of the packet which is the tax collector it states the same all right on this particular case can you tell me what the um whether this is um actually Proactive or reactive uh code enforcement case um going be proactive okay and so you did not receive a complaint from anyone correct okay and um if you could tell me what code violation did you find at this property located at 1496 North bore um it was replacement of deck without proper permitting okay um so you were just driving by the property and found that there had been this code violation yes without a permit okay so uh when you went by the property what it ex what was it that you saw that brought it to your attention um in Pages 10 and 11 of the packet reflect the new deck that had been done um and in page nine that's just a Google image from December 2022 reflecting the old dock or deck excuse me okay this is really difficult to determine looking at this Photograph so if we were looking at the photograph then between the two pieces of white fence is that would portion on the ground is that what we're talking about yes it's kind of hard to see from the image but the reddish on the right hand side okay and that's the way it looked prior to the deck being replaced correct correct okay and then this next photograph can you point out exactly where it is behind the black truck is one view of it there's another side from the other side of the black truck okay why is that a violation of the city code and what code section is it it's uh section 8652 for one required let me get to that part of the letter that was sent out um for work that requires permitting okay so once you went out to the property found that there was a violation found out who the property owner was pursuing the tax collector's office or Property Appraiser's office did you issue a courtesy notice of code violation I did yes on November 15th of 2023 hey in this courtesy notice of violation was that sent by regular mail or certified mail how was it actually sent the courtesy was regular mail okay um in the packet it's listed in Pages 7 and8 it doesn't show that this letter was actually signed in the one that's in the packet was the letter that was sent in the mail signed by you it was yes this was just the copy saved um prior to Signature but the sent has a signature on it yes okay and in this particular um courtesy letter did you tell the property owner what the violation was and what corrective action needed to take place yes on page eight that's up on the screen it states the decking on property without required building permits um is the detail and the corrective action is to obtain for permitting okay did you give the property owner a return date or compliance date uh when the letter was issued on November 15th um from the first courtesy letter the followup date was November 29th 2023 was it brought into compliance as of November 29th it was not okay did you go out to the property and inspect on November 29th um in our daily driveby yes and there had been no permit um completed at that time okay so did you issue then a notice of code violation yes and is that what's shown on pages 12 and 13 yes it was sent um the notice code violation was sent November 29th of 2012 23 and this code violation Noti is the same code section as being the one that's violated 86-52 that's correct okay and this letter on page 13 does not show that it was signed was the original that was sent to the property owner signed yes okay and Pages uh 14 15 and 16 are those the photographs that we had looked at once before that's correct okay showing page 14 is the old deck and 15 and 16 is the new deck correct okay did you send this letter by certified mail yes okay did you also send it by regular mail um the second letter was just certified okay and did you um receive the Green Card back on this one um not from the certified no what was your next activity on this particular file scroll down into the packet shows the scent certified um the next would have been the statement of violation and request of hearing that was done June 14th of 2024 okay before we get to that one had had you received any type of Correspondence telephone calls emails or the like from the property owner to discuss the violation on the property yes um we have emails that had originated November 28th um from the property owner Cara mckenny letting me know that she's right in response to the violation letter um and how to bring it into compliance okay when was the last activity correspondence wise between the city and the property owner via email it was um November 29th 2023 okay can you tell us the reason why we are not did not move forward on this case until June 14th uh when the statement of violation was issued yes we um just in the way that the cases fall to bring them to the magistrate this was in an order so it was the next upep in June okay so you issued then the statement of violation and request for hearing on June 14th and that's listed at Pages 19 and 20 is that correct that's correct okay and you also issued a notice of hearing for today's hearing on pages 21 and through 204 is that correct I'm sorry 22 21 through 22 yes all right and how did you serve the the notice of hearing and the statement of violation they were sent regular mail certified mail and posted out the property okay did you also post it here at City Hall yes okay and is that reflected in your amended Affidavit of service which is on pages 23 and 24 yes that's correct okay have you received the Green Card back on this case I have yes okay and um do you have a copy of that or I'm I'm sorry um for this case no I do not okay all right so when you posted the property though you took a photograph of the posting correct that's correct and it is that on page 27 that's correct and is that that's kind of a better picture of the deck too you can see the whole deck correct correct all right um and the photograph on page 28 is what that is the posting at City Hall okay is the property in compliance as of today as of today no okay how much time do you think it would take to bring this property into compliance by getting after the fact building permit um the city would find 10 days okay all right um I don't have any other questions of Grace I would um tender her over to the property owner if she's present all right I'll go ahead and accept into evidence is exhibit number one page three through page 28 eight of the agenda packet Miss Mills just a couple clarifying questions is the what type of deck is that is it wood is it pav what kind of deck is that do you know I believe just from appearance it would be wood all right and the corrective action would be to come into City Hall and get a permit after the fact permit for that or I guess remove that deck that's correct is there anything that would prevent the homeowner or the respondent from coming in and getting a permit for that that deck in in the way in other words I mean can that deck be permitted I guess is a better way to put it yes there is an active permit request for it to be permitted it's just um has not been completed from the um applicant all right is Miss McKenna here or anybody here on behalf of the respondent got all right come on forward all right ma'am are you um carara and mckenny yes I am all right ma'am the way that we conduct these hearings is you have the right to cross-examine or ask questions of Miss Mills based on her testimony and that's the part of the hearing we're having right now in just a few moments I'm going to give you another opportunity to tell me directly anything that you want to tell me about this code violation you can call your own Witnesses you can show me any documents or anything like that but right now this is your opportunity to ask Miss Mills any questions you don't have to ask her questions if you don't want to but if you want to cross-exam her you have that right to do so now do you have any questions for Miss Mills yes all right go ahead um you said there was an open permit request um is the name on it Cody ball the general contractor that did the work I'm not aware I can look it up what on I only asked because he he told me that he did apply for it the contractor's name is dreamspace Contracting yeah that's his company okay great uh when did he apply for that November 29th of 2023 is when it was created and what is not finished um they have requested a signed contract for FEMA retention that has not been sent in a a signed contract for what FEMA retention um the building official is requesting a signed contract for the work oh so something to do with FEMA I'm assuming so from the notes yes oh okay I don't I don't know what that is I hope he does okay that's all the questions I had for Miss Grace Miss okay ma'am don't uh don't go far because I miss Mills may be the city's only witness so hold on M TR anybody else I don't have anybody else but I just got a short redirect yes please go ahead so what the city is looking for is the contract that was signed between the contractor who built the deck and the property owner correct correct yes okay so if she if the property owner was to submit that contract to the city it would move the application forward through the uh process correct uh it's one of the requirements so it would need to be submitted and reviewed um if there were no issues with it then yes okay are there any other things that were listed on the permit application that the property owner needs to provide to the city to move forward um on the 17th of this month the survey was re-uploaded um it looks like it's been reviewed so I think as of right now the contract's the only outstanding thing all right thank you no other questions oh can I just ask one more thing uh yeah well now is your opportunity to you want to ask Miss Mills another question yeah go ahead okay so the contract you need is between myself and the the contractor not the FEMA thing no we just need to hold it for FEMA retention through the building department we just need a contract between you and the contractor for the work well I can do that I like to hear that all right Miss McKenna having heard that this is your opportunity in the hearing to tell me anything you'd like to tell me uh present any documents call any Witnesses so what would you like to tell me about this code violation um first of all I would like to apologize for having it gone on this long um I dropped the ball I thought the contractor was taking care of it and um he wasn't um and I yeah I replaced the jack that was rotten and I hired a general contractor to do it because I knew if it needed a permit pulled he would be able to do that and that's what happened all right I understand Mr TR any questions just a few so um was the entire deck replaced in that in that area you took out the old one put the new one in the exact same location yes you didn't expand the area of the Deb correct okay um and what it was installed by your contractor in his in the contract that you have with him does it provide that he is to obtain the building permit yes you look you had a question in your face when you said that you don't do you know or not know yes if there was to be a permit if there needed to be a permit pulled he was supposed to pull it okay and how long would it take for you to get a copy of that contract between you and your contractor to the city um can you do that the next day or so yeah okay right away do you have it with you today um I have it in my email I do not have a hard printed copy okay all right so if you could bring a hard copy to the city we can move forward and you think you can do that the next day or so sure okay I'll do it today okay I have no other questions thank you all right man uh anything else that you want to tell me today um after the contract is submitted someone will come out and inspect or how does that work you'll need to talk to Miss Mills about that after the hearing you can just stay here and I'm sure the next hearing won't last too long and then she can walk you through that process but it sounds to me like you there's not a a whole lot you have to do are you still in contact with your contractor um I was Friday okay good so that's uh that's good um Well ma'am here's what I'm going to do uh you you think you can get this done in 10 days I just want to make sure that you that's enough time I know we got Fourth of July coming up and everything like that I can bring the contract if that's all that's needed from me I can absolutely do that all right U ma'am we're going to open up the public comment was anything else you want to tell me right now no okay thank you you can have a seat all right at this point in time we will hear any member of the public who has any direct knowledge in regard to this violation any members of the public that want to comment on case 2023 3709 for the property at 14906 North Bayshore Drive okay seeing none we'll close public comment uh Mr tras anything else uh the city would just ask that you give the property owner 10 days to come into compliance with that code section 86-52 should she fail to bring the property into compliance within that 10day period of time Levy a fine of $100 a day for each day that the property remains in non-compliance all right thank you Mr tras okay based upon uh the testimony provided by the city and the admission to the violation by m mcken I'm going to go ahead and find the property is in violation ma'am I'm going to give you 10 days to get this cured after that'll be1 day $100 a day fine if however uh something happens and there's just you need more time or something like that the you can always come back to see me and and explain why you need more time and certainly we'll try to be understanding of that it's good that you have a contractor and it's good that you um you try to do the right thing so you just work with your contractor to get the city what they need sounds like the building permit will be issued so u sounds like you'll be able to get this violation cured before the fine will ever begin to run all right we'll move on to the next case which is 2023 3711 for the property located 15301 Second Street is the city ready to proceeded yes we are go ahead Mr TR again I would call Grace Mills as the city's witness Grace is this a proactive case or was it it was a result of a complaint this is proactive okay um the property that we're talking about 1531 301 2nd Street East this the building immediately behind us correct that's correct okay across the canal a little bit yes all right um what is the code violation that's being prosecuted under this case I believe let me get down to it the letter um it is 8652 when required okay similar to the first case this is doing work without a building permit correct correct okay and when I asked you about it being proactive or a complaint did you actually see work being done on this property and we'll get to the owner in a little bit but yes okay and what exactly did you see um interior remodel drywall replacement okay so the property located 15312 Street East is owned by whom and how do you know that get up there um if you go to the property appraiser in the packet which starts at page 29 it will reflect the Wolfpack Holdings LLC as the owner of that property and again on the tax page which is page 32 I believe um reflects the same wolf pack holding LLC is this a single family resident or is it a multifam type building it is a multi family building okay and how many units are there approximately looks as if there's eight living units per the property appraiser okay and how many units are having work done on them to to the best of your knowledge um from the violation that we had witnessed it was one unit um per the permit that was submitted it is all units okay just make sure I understand so so you only found the violation one correct and when a building permit was applied for they said they were going to be remodeling all eight units correct okay all right so what was the date that you saw the property in violation down to that first photo it would have been nov mber 20th of 2023 okay so that's the day that you were at the property then that's correct okay um so when you saw the violation on the property did you issue a courtesy notice of code violation I did yes and that's reflective on page 33 that was sent November 20th the same day of 2023 okay if we can look at that 33 and 34 then so on page 34 again same question as last case this um particular letter is unsigned in the packet the when the original went out it was a signed letter correct correct all right and so did you list the violation and the corrective action that needed to take place in the courtesy notice I did yes the violation details and the um corrective action of how to bring it into compliance did you also state in there a date that you would like the all these items to be accomplished for the courtesy notice it was no um December 4th 2023 so that's when you were going to go back and inspect correct correct okay the photograph on page 35 if we can take a look at that for a minute so what is this Photograph depicting that is the stop work order on the front of the property when um the stop work order was taking place they did not allow access to the interior so no interior photos were able to be inspected um so the stop workk order was placed and that's the photo we have of the exterior to prove okay so on the outside of the building it looks like it's showing an address of 15301 but the photograph reflects an address of 15361 can you explain the difference yes the program we use for our photos grabs the nearest pinpoint of the address um sometimes when we're in there taking the photo so sometimes it'll grab an address a few streets down um or right next to it okay but we're sure that this property is located 15301 correct yes yes right did the property uh come into compliance by the December 4th date that you had asked in the courtesy and courtesy notice no it did not okay um did you then issue a notice of code violation on December the 6th I did yes and is that listed in Pages 36 through 38 that's correct same question about the signature this particular letter was also signed it just said in the packet we have an unsigned letter that's correct and it was the same violation same corrective action to be taken in that letter yes with a follow-up date of December 20th 2023 okay and how was this letter um provided to the owner of the property the second um cert letter was sent certified mail okay did you um get a green card back on that particular um notice from the certified mailing no I did not all right so I'd like to turn to page uh 41 um and let's take a look at that photograph for a minute the letter or the notice of code violation was sent on December the 6th with a follow up date on December the 20th what is what what were these photos for on starting on page 41 they were taken January 16th um after the stop work order had been placed work had continued um so we placed a second stop work order at that time they did allow us into the first unit to document photos of what was going on all right if you could um um start with page 41 and tell us what is happening in each one of these photographs um P starting on page 41 it looks like a bathroom that's possibly holding some supplies and door material um going down to page 42 appears to be some new drywall um a toilet some light fixtures hanging down all right let me stop you right there that that toilet is in a room other than a bathroom correct correct okay so it's just sitting on top of that floor it's it's not been addressed it's not been installed correct it's not installed no okay all right if you could go to page 43 then um page 43 reflects the second stop work order we posted the first one was taken down and work had continued so we documented the second one is the stop work order still on the property I do not believe so at this time all right let's turn to page 44 then please and tell me what is taking place in page 44 and 45 those two photographs 44 um appears to depict a hallway with some more um work material and 45 appears to show against some more work material um excess doors material for building and new drywall okay so following that inspection on January 16th did you issue a statement of violation and request for hearing I did yes on June 14th um 2024 okay and that's listed on pages 46 and 47 of the packet correct okay and um same code violation nothing has changed correct all right if we could turn to page 48 and 49 appears to be a notice of hearing for today's hearing um that also was issued on June 14th that's correct yes okay so how did you send the statement of violation and the notice of hearing the property owner they are sent regular mail certified mail and posted at the property okay did you also post it at City Hall I did yes is that reflected in your affid of service on pages 50 and 51 yes okay and when you sent it by certified mail did you did you receive the Green Card back on that certified mailing we did yes okay and is that what you handed me just before the hearing yes okay um I'm going to go ahead and tender into evidence Pages 29 through 55 of the packet as well as the Green Card showing it it was received all right go ahead and accept into evidences exhibit number one Pages 29 through 55 of the packet and I'll also attach the signed green card that uh looks like it was delivered on 617 2024 thank you I have no other questions for Miss Mills Miss Mills uh in regard it sounds like there may be some permit application that was applied for what is the city looking for in regard to deadline to comply and then any sort of fine thereafter if uh the property is not brought into compliance um the city would F $150 a day um and 30 days to bring it into compliance and just so I'm clear on this is is the viol the 15301 2 Street East is that for all does this violation cover all eight units or is this a specific unit within that building it covers the entire property okay so in my order as long as I just include the 15301 Second Street East that would properly Identify the property that's subject to this violation yes sir okay thank you all right is there anyone here on behalf of Wolfpack Holdings or the property owner all right come on forward sir sir what is your name Kevin burn say that again Kevin burn how do you spell your last name b y r n e all right and what is your relationship to Wolfpack Holdings LLC I'm the sole owner of Wolfpack all right so you manager manager of the LLC yeah manager of the LC all right uh Mr burn I'm going to give you an opportunity to tell me anything you want to tell me but this is your opportunity to cross-examine or ask questions of Miss Mills about her testimony do you have any questions from Miss Mills no I don't all right very good okay uh Mr burn what would you like to tell me this is your opportunity to present any evidence you want tell me anything you want to tell me call any Witnesses show them any documents or anything like that yeah so we um we we didn't realize that we had to pull a permit just to do the flooring which is what the intent was just do some flooring and then um the only drywall that's in there is a is there's a um a closet that was a very large closet so we split the closet in two is all really that we were doing with the intent to in the future pull a permit for installing a washer and dryer but we weren't going to do that until we pulled that permit so when the stop work order came um I tried to pull the permit myself but because it was under an LLC they kicked it back so I had to hire a general contractor general contractor submitted the permit he told me we're good and that's when work continued again apparently we were not good because they came back with additional um additional comments so uh last week I personally went downstairs and met with uh planner and um we addressed any questions that they had and so now we have resubmitted as of this morning including the contract with the contractor and all the FEMA every stuff so you can probably see it in the system now I don't know if it's been approved yet but the permit may actually get approved today so it's everything submitted good to go and the reason when we are intending on doing all the units so when we got the work order for the one we just said we might as well pull a permit for the whole building because we are going to do every unit so and it's well within the FEMA rules so there's no issues all right thank you Mr burn Mr trash have any questions for Mr burn since he just per U issued uh the building permit application today do you foresee any complications with that or do you believe that you've checked all the boxes with the permit application provided everything that is necessary so just to correct the the original permit was submitted months ago you mean the application application I apologize application was submitted months ago comments came back we resubmitted I met with him last week to try and make sure I checked all the Box we tried to get it open before this hearing um it didn't happen and I believe all the boxes are checked so I met with him in person I've got his card right here we're talking but he's got to review it we did everything he asked yes so okay I have no other questions then thank you all right and Mr burn Mr tras took the thought out of my mind because I want to make sure 30 days is enough time I don't want to you know you sound like you're trying to do the right thing hiring a contractor and applying for a building permit that's fantastic so um it sounds like 30 days you should be able to get this permit issued I hope so on your side at least I on my side yeah they review it and they don't come back with anything you know crazy um if you want to get give me more time feel free 30 days is fine yeah back sure sir and basically in that regard always in these situations if we get to the end of that 30 days I'm here every every month on the same Monday so you can always come back before me if there's some kind of issue just let the city know that you need to come back before me and if there's some delay on your end or your contractor's in or even the city's in and you need more time let me know but I certainly understand it all right thank you sir uh anything else you want to tell me today about this violation no sir all right uh you can have a seat sir are there any members of the public that have direct knowledge about this code violation that would like to present anything to me today any members of the public all right seeing none Mr tras anything else on this one we just asked that you find the violation of uh section 8652 um allow the property owning 30 days to come into compliance or suffer a fine of $150 a day for each day that the property remains in non-compliance thank you all right thank you Mr Mills based upon the testimony or thank you Mr TR based upon the testimony of Miss Mills as well as the admission by Mr burn that they did the work at least didn't have a permit going to go ahead and find the violation did exist and still exist give the owner 30 days from today's date to go ahead and correct the violation if it's not corrected there'll be $150 day fund thereafter Mr burn again if for whatever reason we get to the end of that time I reserve jurisdiction to give you more time if that's what you need so uh just be proactive about that and if that's something that you need me to consider just make sure that you notify the city in enough time before the next hearing all right is there anything else before me today Mr TR no thank you all right that concludes today's hearings everyone have a wonderful day