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Pensacola code enforcement orders fines, sets compliance deadlines for multiple properties
Summary
At a Jan. 7, 2025 hearing, the City of Pensacola Code Enforcement Authority found several properties out of compliance with the International Property Maintenance Code and Pensacola ordinances, ordering fines or compliance deadlines; one property was found corrected and one prior court-cost charge was waived to $0.
The City of Pensacola Code Enforcement Authority on Jan. 7, 2025 ordered daily fines or set compliance deadlines for multiple residential properties after city officers presented evidence of rubbish, structural and maintenance violations.
Officer Bowden and Kevin Smith, code enforcement officers for the City of Pensacola, presented photos and inspection history showing outstanding violations at several addresses. The hearing officer found by clear and convincing evidence that most listed properties remained out of compliance and issued orders that fines commence or that owners bring properties into compliance by specified dates. The authority also approved a correction to a prior order to waive court costs in one case, and found one property had been corrected before the hearing.
The orders affect properties cited for violations of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and multiple Pensacola Municipal Code ordinances, including accumulation of rubbish, exterior deterioration, unsecured/vacant-structure conditions, overgrown vegetation and public-right-of-way obstructions. Officers asked the authority to impose $25-per-day fines and $200 court costs where the original orders provided those remedies; the authority imposed or retained those amounts where the record supported them.
Officer Bowden, City of Pensacola code enforcement, testified for multiple cases and described photographs that show materials, furniture and debris remaining at porches or yards. "This property was found in violation for IPMC 308.1, accumulation of rubbish and garbage," Bowden said regarding one Davis Highway address. Kevin Smith, code enforcement officer for the City of Pensacola, testified that although "some work has been done," multiple structural violations remained at a Parkwood Avenue property.
The authority ordered fines to begin immediately for three properties that had previously been ordered into compliance but remained noncompliant as of the Jan. 7 site visits; for other cases the authority set compliance deadlines of Jan. 20, 2025 with fines to begin Jan. 21, 2025 if corrections were not completed. For one case, the authority found the nuisance corrected and declined to assess fines or court costs. The authority also granted a motion from the city attorney to amend a prior order to change an assessed court cost from $200 to $0 (a scrivener's error correction).
Votes at a glance: 24-3664 (1202 North Davis Highway): hearing officer ordered $25 per day fine to commence Jan. 7, 2025, and court costs of $200 as provided in the original order. 24-4519 (1505 North Davis Highway): fine of $25 per day to commence Jan. 7, 2025, and $200 court costs. 24-3452 (3507 Parkwood Avenue): five IPMC violations remained; fine of $25 per day to commence Jan. 7, 2025, and $200 court costs. 24-5172 (1117 North D Street): property found in violation; compliance ordered by Jan. 20, 2025; $25 per day fine to begin Jan. 21, 2025 if not corrected; $200 court costs. 24-5677 (315 North A Street): compliance ordered by Jan. 20, 2025; $25 per day fine to begin Jan. 21, 2025 if not corrected; $200 court costs. 24-5436 (1700 West Government Street): property found to have been in violation earlier but was corrected before the hearing; no fines or court costs were assessed. 24-5989 (1101 North Jay Street): compliance ordered by Jan. 20, 2025; $25 per day fine to begin Jan. 21, 2025 if not corrected; $200 court costs. 24-4971 (4570 Christie Drive): the authority granted the city attorney's motion to amend a December 17, 2024 order to correct a scrivener's error and set court costs to $0; all other findings in the prior order remain.
The authority's findings were based on testimony, dated inspection photographs and evidence of mailed or posted notices of violation and notice of hearing as reflected in the record. In several cases officers testified they had sent certified-mail notices and completed affidavits of posting after certified-mail follow-up was not returned. For the cases where the authority set Jan. 20 compliance deadlines, the hearing officer ordered court costs of $200 and warned that a $25-per-day fine would begin Jan. 21, 2025 if the property remained noncompliant.
The hearing lasted under an hour and covered eight case files. The authority adjourned after hearing those matters.
