Martin County orders PCG 24 LLC to restore Palm Cove Golf Course preserves; $1,000 per-violation daily fine set

A Martin County special magistrate on Feb. 19, 2025 found that PCG 24 LLC had repeatedly altered protected upland preserves, wetland buffers and lake habitat areas at the Palm Cove Golf Course, 2363 Southwest Carychill Terrace in Palm City, and ordered restoration and monitoring under court deadlines.

The magistrate accepted county evidence showing a long-standing preserve-area management plan and a recorded stipulation dating to 2006 that required a revised Preserve Area Management Plan (PAMP), restoration and five years of post-restoration monitoring. County testimony summarized inspections and photographic evidence documenting clearing that began Sept. 18, 2024 and continued through Jan. 30, 2025, including mechanically shredded understory, removal of lake littoral plants, damaged mangroves, heavy-equipment tracks and piled, mulched vegetation near wetlands and lakes.

County senior site compliance officer Jerry Mitchell told the magistrate the property owner listed in the property appraiser’s records is PCG 24 LLC and that staff issued a notice of violation on Oct. 24, 2024 and an amended notice on Jan. 16, 2025 to reflect additional impacts to lake habitat areas. Mitchell said staff conducted several site and aerial inspections and provided numerous dated photographs and aerial images as exhibits. He described saw palmetto and other native understory being removed, littoral plants lying in lakes and subsequent algal blooms: “When dead plants debris enter the water, the decaying process removes the oxygen and degrades the water and affects the fish and everything else.”

County investigators cited violations of Martin County codes and the recorded PAMP (PAMP sections 4.2, 5.2, 6 and 6.1) and the land-development provision referenced in the notice of violation. Aerial photos, inspection photos and a record of the 2007 PAMP and 2008 habitat-restoration as-built were introduced as County Exhibits 2–33; the magistrate admitted County Exhibits 1–35 without objection.

After reviewing the evidence, the magistrate said the violations charged existed and that the documented clearing and destruction were “particularly egregious and substantial.” The magistrate set a schedule in the order: a complete restoration and replanting plan must be submitted and approved by May 21, 2025; the restoration must be planted, a bond posted and a satisfactory inspection obtained by Aug. 19, 2025. The magistrate concluded that a civil penalty was warranted and stated on the record that “fine in the amount of $1,000 per violation per day is appropriate.” The county also requested recovery of investigation costs in the hearing record.

County staff said they issued verbal and written stop-work instructions on Sept. 18, 2024 and onsite again on later inspection dates but documented repeated clearing after those orders. Staff also reported calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after they found gopher tortoise burrows and noted evidence of herbicide use in cleared areas.

The magistrate’s order requires PCG 24 LLC to comply with the cited provisions of Martin County code and the recorded PAMP under the deadlines listed above; the order specifies daily civil penalties to begin if the property remains out of compliance. The county will provide the written order to the parties and the record of the hearing was entered into evidence.