Lakeland hearing officer finds violations at dozens of properties; owners given deadlines or daily fines

Emily Crane Evans, the hearing officer for the City of Lakeland, presided over a code enforcement hearing in which she found that multiple properties were in violation of city codes and ordered owners to come into compliance by specified dates or face daily fines.

The hearing covered dozens of docketed cases involving derelict vehicles, overgrowth and junk, open storage, unsecured or unoccupied buildings, and other violations of the City of Lakeland code. In most matters the hearing officer adopted the city’s recommendation: owners were given a deadline to correct the violation (commonly Jan. 19, 2025, Feb. 8, 2025, or March 10, 2025) or face daily fines, typically $50 per day. Two matters involving open, unsecured, or repeat violations were assigned a $150-per-day fine.

The hearing matters are procedural findings arising from code enforcement inspections and re‑inspections. The rulings set compliance deadlines, established that violations existed past listed deadlines in several cases, and in one case recorded a finding that a property qualified as a repeat violator.

SJD Development LLC, which owns a large parcel discussed during the hearing, requested more time to bring multiple locations on its property into compliance. Matthew Morrison, attorney for SJD Development, said the property covers many acres and asked for additional time to coordinate maintenance and a single point of contact with code enforcement. Morrison said, “I think 60 days would be more than fair to try to address this issue,” and asked for time to establish maintenance logistics. The city’s staff recommended a shorter deadline; Hearing Officer Evans granted 30 days (compliance by Feb. 8, 2025) and instructed the owner to coordinate with code enforcement during that period.

Several cases were identified as repeat violations or were flagged for findings of fact that the violation continued after the compliance deadline. In one case involving an open, unsecured building at 110 Main Street East, the hearing officer found a repeat violation and adopted the city’s recommendation that a $150-per-day fine be imposed retroactive to Nov. 14, 2024…