Port St. Lucie magistrate sets compliance deadlines, fines in multiple building-code cases

Port St. Lucie — At a special magistrate hearing on Jan. 29, 2025, the City of Port St. Lucie ordered a series of property owners and commercial tenants to correct building-code violations by set deadlines or face daily fines and administrative costs. The hearing resolved long-pending files, granted several deadline extensions and scheduled at least one reinspection.

The most contested case involved John M. Wengle and Arlene Wengle, whose pool enclosure in the Tesoro planned unit development sits inside a PUD setback. Audra Creech, land use and zoning attorney for the Wengles, said the owner has a medical sensitivity that factored into attempts to resolve the issue administratively and asked for 30 days to pursue a permit route after the building department denied a compliance permit in October 2024. Albert Moore, representing the Tesoro property‑owners association, urged certification of fines, calling the repeated continuances a “stall tactic.” The magistrate granted the Wengles 30 days to address compliance; the case previously carried a proposed fine of $50 per day and an investigative cost of $510, pending enforcement if the Wengles do not achieve compliance.

Why this matters: the magistrate’s rulings set precise deadlines and financial penalties that can become liens on properties, affecting homeowners, small-business tenants and commercial property owners across Port St. Lucie. Several cases date back to 2021 or 2023 and involve both residential accessory structures and commercial interior buildouts.

Key outcomes and orders from the hearing

- Gatlin Point 18 LLC (Case No. 31720, 1214 Southwest Gatlin Boulevard, Unit 108): Investigator James LaPonza reported a commercial interior buildout with added electrical work done without a permit. The magistrate ordered Gatlin Point 18 LLC to comply with the Port St. Lucie Code by Feb. 26,…