Steve De La Roche, the special code enforcement magistrate for the City of Daytona Beach Shores, ordered the Pirates Cove Condominium Association to remove concrete debris from a vacant lot at 3501 Cardinal Boulevard within 60 days and pay administrative fees, or face fines beginning at $250 per day.

The order follows a city presentation that cited three violations: concrete debris on the lot, grading/asphalt work without permits and a portable modular unit stored on the vacant lot. The city sought 60- to 90-day compliance periods, administrative fees of $162.89 and daily fines of $250 for the association.

The magistrate found evidence the concrete pieces and debris violated City of Daytona Beach Shores Code of Ordinances section 14-5-2.9(d)(11) and ordered removal within 60 days. "I have some chunks of concrete sitting in an open field. You get 60 days to remove them or $250 a day thereafter," De La Roche said.

However, De La Roche declined to find violations on the other two counts. He said the city's charging language did not properly allege grading or removal of material without a permit for the asphalt/millings question and therefore was mispleaded; the magistrate said the pictures showed recycled asphalt millings rather than new asphalt placement. He also found the ordinance cited for "open storage" did not properly fit the modular kitchen as pled. "It may be a zoning problem, but it wasn't properly pled," he said, and found the association not in violation on that count.

City witnesses described the lot changes and the modular kitchen. Steve Edmonds, the city's building official, testified the site had been altered with asphalt millings and that a site plan and permits are required to convert the vacant lot to a parking area. Edmonds described millings as recycled asphalt material and said corrective action would be to remove millings, restore sod and remove the modular kitchen from the site unless a proper site plan and inspections were obtained.

Philip Martin, who identified himself as the owner of the modular kitchen, said the unit is the restaurant's property and "was supposed to be placed on the side of the building where the construction is going on." Martin said the unit is not hooked up and "is not functional, not hooked up to anything." Association manager Alicia Delagatti said the association and Martin are in mediation over the site and asked for more time; the magistrate denied a continuance but allowed the 60-day corrective period.

De La Roche noted the city may pursue other ordinances if it has different factual allegations, such as grading without a permit, saying: "This does not prohibit the city from coming back under the proper ordinances." The association was ordered to pay administrative fees of $162.89 within 30 days.

The magistrate's written order will set out the findings and the city retains the ability to refile under different code provisions if it chooses to plead the facts differently.