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Cocoa Beach magistrate orders property owner to file fence permit to enclose pool by Aug. 9 or face daily fines
Summary
A special magistrate ordered Michael Lithicum to submit a permit application by Aug. 9, 2025, to install a pool enclosure at 185 Bahama Boulevard; the city said trash and an inoperable boat have been removed.
The City of Cocoa Beach Special Magistrate Lonnie Groot on July 9 ordered property owner Michael Lithicum to submit a fence permit application by Aug. 9, 2025, to bring a missing pool enclosure into compliance and avoid fines, following a city presentation that said trash and an inoperable boat on the 185 Bahama Boulevard property had been removed.
The magistrate said the city had mailed an initial courtesy notice on July 23, 2024, and a notice of violation on Nov. 7, 2024, for a missing pool enclosure and an inoperable boat; the city said Florida Fish and Wildlife opened a derelict-vessel process and the boat was removed. Danielle Crawford, the city code enforcement officer presenting the case, told the hearing a notice of hearing was mailed June 3, 2025, after no fence permit application had been submitted.
The magistrate read the city’s evidence, including aerial images and photographs showing the pool, the former inoperable boat and earlier trash and debris. Crawford also offered a packet of notices and return receipts into evidence. The city’s presentation showed a temporary orange safety fence remains in place on the property.
Lithicum told the magistrate his fence company would not install enclosure material without a current survey; he said the survey on file from a solar contractor could not be used and that he planned to pay for a new survey. The magistrate asked whether the August 9 deadline was reasonable; Lithicum said contacting contractors had been difficult but did not offer a date he could meet.
Magistrate Groot ordered that a permit application be submitted by Aug. 9, 2025. He said in the order that if the application is not submitted by that date, the fine will be $100 for the first day of continued violation and $50 per day thereafter. The magistrate also noted the written order would follow the oral ruling.
The city clerk and staff broadcast the hearing on the city’s YouTube channel and said a written order would be issued within days.
