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Magistrate orders removal of abandoned monument sign at Jog Road plaza
Summary
The special magistrate ordered removal of a freestanding sign at Oakey Plaza on Jog Road after the city presented evidence the face had been blank for years and the sign met the code's abandoned-sign definition.
The City of Greenacres won an order Feb. 26 requiring removal of an abandoned freestanding sign at Jog Plaza, 3818 Jog Road.
Xavier Morales, a Greenacres code compliance officer, told Special Magistrate Amity Barnard the plaza sign had no commercial copy on its face for a prolonged period and that Google Maps and dated photographs in the city’s file showed no advertisement on the sign since at least 2018. Morales said the sign is lit and maintained but bears no copy.
The city relied on the sign-code definition for abandonment and requested removal. The city's packet included proof of ownership, notices of violation and affidavits of posting and photographs. The city asked for a compliance period of 30 days and a $100-per-day fine after that window.
Barnard concluded the city had shown the sign met both a 30-day and a six-month abandonment standard cited in the code (recorded in the file as section 16-9-35). She ordered removal of the sign within 30 days and set a $100-per-day fine to begin for each day the sign remains after that deadline.
The magistrate noted the property owner was not present; the city's evidence included certified-mail records and multiple dated photographs documenting the lack of copy on the sign. The city indicated the sign face could not be retained as a lawful nonconforming sign and that replacement of the face would not cure the nonconforming status under the city's interpretation of the code.
