Fort Lauderdale special magistrate sets deadlines, fines and extensions across dozens of code cases

The Fort Lauderdale special magistrate on Feb. 11, 2025 set compliance deadlines, granted extensions and ordered administrative costs or fines for dozens of properties during a multi-hour code-enforcement hearing, addressing violations from illegal outdoor storage and unpermitted signs to recurring nuisance cases and public-safety concerns.

The hearing matters because the magistrate’s orders impose deadlines and, in some cases, daily fines that affect property owners’ repair schedules, potential rental operations and public-safety risks. Several cases drew back-and-forth between city inspectors, property owners or their representatives and the magistrate before the magistrate issued orders.

Inspector Shaikh Owen Kendrick told the magistrate that the property at 3121 Northwest 60th Drive was first sighted on Oct. 27, 2024 and remained out of compliance at a prehearing inspection; the city requested 10 or 28 days for multiple violations or $50 per day thereafter. Property representative Joseph Sanzari told the magistrate, “Give me 30 days, I guess. I’ve planted sod where the grass was missing,” and said he had begun cleanup. The magistrate granted the city’s request for compliance deadlines, telling Sanzari to coordinate with the inspector so fines do not begin to run.

At 3315 East Oakland Park Blvd. (Ocean Cross LLC), inspector Pat Gavin said a business was advertising “psychic” services in a CB zone where that activity is not allowed and that signs had been erected without permits. Landlord Gloria Wetherington said she would not renew the tenant’s lease until the matter was resolved. Attorney Roberto Stansi, representing the tenant, told the magistrate the tenant had removed the window signs and that the large rooftop sign would require a sign company and could be removed within about 30 days; the magistrate set a 28-day compliance deadline and warned that the city would return if psychic activity resumed.

Several property owners asked for and received extensions or scheduling changes because…