Magistrate orders $200 in costs and potential $25-per-day fines for Pensacola property violations at 4120 Lenora Drive

Special Magistrate Matthew Hargraves ordered on March 18, 2025, that the property at 4120 Lenora Drive in Pensacola be found in violation of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and a municipal nuisance ordinance, awarding $200 in court costs to the City of Pensacola and directing that fines of $25 per day begin April 1 if the property is not brought into compliance by March 31, 2025.

The ruling follows testimony and photographic evidence from Kevin Smith, a City of Pensacola code enforcement officer, who testified that an inspection on Dec. 30, 2024, documented multiple code issues including vegetation exceeding 12 inches, a single-axle utility trailer in the front yard without a license plate and parked parallel to the front property line, and appliances and construction materials stored openly on the property. Smith said certified notice and a 21-day compliance period were mailed on Jan. 2, 2025; when the certified receipt was not returned he posted a notice on the property on Jan. 23. A post-compliance inspection on Feb. 21 found the violations remained and the case was referred for a hearing.

At the March 18 hearing, Smith said a follow-up inspection that day showed the vegetation had been cut and the trailer had been repositioned on the property, but the trailer remained without a license plate and several items — including a freezer door, a car battery and a piece of countertop material — remained on the east side of the lot. Smith presented photographs from the Dec. 30, 2024, Feb. 21, 2025, and March 18, 2025 inspections and sworn affidavits of posting and mailing for the notices.

Hargraves told the hearing he found that notice had been properly provided as required by Florida Statute and that violations existed for IPMC section 302.8 (motor vehicles) and municipal ordinance 14-4-3 (nuisance). The magistrate declined to sustain the code section cited for parking and storage of major recreational equipment (12-3-59) and indicated that citation would be stricken from the agenda. Hargraves ordered court costs of $200 payable within 30 days and specified that a $25-per-day fine would commence April 1, 2025, if the property was not in compliance by March 31, 2025.

The case was recorded on the agenda as case number 24-7782, property owners listed in the record as Nguyen Tan Thai Binh and No Dui Van. The code enforcement record presented at the hearing shows the sequence of notices: certified mailing with a 21-day compliance period, posting when the certified receipt was not returned, a post-compliance inspection, and service of a notice of hearing in late February 2025.

No members of the public spoke on this item during the hearing, and no additional requests to increase fines or other outstanding business items were presented. The Special Magistrate closed the matter and the meeting moved to unfinished and then new business before adjourning.