Vacant Friendly’s property hit with repeat graffiti fine; owner cites long vacancy and stalled redevelopment

A repeat graffiti incident at the former Friendly’s restaurant on North State Road 7 drew a repeat‑violation fine at the June 11 special magistrate hearing in Royal Palm Beach.

Michael Atzmon, a manager for the property owner Biscayne Friendly LLC, told the magistrate the property has been vacant since COVID, that a prior tenant with a redevelopment plan performed little work, and that the owner has struggled to secure a new use. “We bought it vacant, and, we had a restaurant lined up, and we're days away from signing a lease before COVID,” Atzmon said. “...we finally took the property back from them.”

The village’s code officer described the new graffiti as a separate occurrence from a February 2024 tag that had been cleaned, and said the most recent graffiti made the site a repeat violator under village code. The village sought a $350 fine for seven days of noncompliance; Special Magistrate Doug Macgibbon entered the finding of fact and granted a $350 fine with no continuing daily assessment.

Why it matters: Owners of vacant commercial properties can face repeated enforcement where taggers re‑mark unused facades. The magistrate noted that owners of vacant properties are still responsible for maintaining them and that repeated tagging increases enforcement exposure.

What the magistrate emphasized: Macgibbon said owners of vacant properties can reduce risk by arranging regular inspections or rapid cleanup plans so a tag does not remain visible for days. “You don't get to do that until they call you and say you have a problem, and then all of a sudden, you're facing a fine,” he told the owner’s representative.

Next steps: The magistrate called for reinspection and advised the owner to arrange on‑site monitoring or local vendors to clear new graffiti quickly so repeat citations can be avoided.