Greenacres magistrate orders fixes, deadlines and fines across multiple property cases

Special Magistrate Amity Barnard on March 25 set deadlines and possible daily fines for a string of code-enforcement cases in Greenacres, Florida, ranging from an unpermitted air‑conditioning installation at a private home to an incomplete commercial church development and multiple business and property maintenance violations.

The magistrate gave the most stringent schedule to the partially built Church of God property on South Jog Road, ordering short-term maintenance fixes within 30 days and full site-and-development or demolition steps within longer deadlines, with a $250-per-day penalty if the property remains out of compliance. The hearing record shows city staff and the church’s pastor debated whether the unfinished building can be retrofitted to meet current codes or must be removed.

“I am not to be punitive. My job is to help you get into compliance,” Special Magistrate Amity Barnard told the church representatives, then gave staggered deadlines so the property owner could either pursue approvals or remove the structure. The magistrate required the easier items (landscaping, removal of loose materials and certain exterior hazards) to be corrected by April 26, larger site and drainage fixes by June 25, and building‑permit–related code sections by July 24; the city recommended the same schedule.

City staff said the church project’s original building permits and related approvals expired years ago and some work on‑site was done without required approvals. Denise Malone, Director of Development and Neighborhood Services, told the magistrate the project began with approvals in 2009 and that…