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Special magistrate gives property owner 21 days to fix Fort Myers Beach property or face daily fines
Summary
A Fort Myers Beach special magistrate ordered Sellhart Properties LLC to bring 32 Fairview Boulevard into compliance within 21 days, imposing a $250 administrative fee and daily fines if repairs are not completed.
Monica Schmucker, the appointed special magistrate for Fort Myers Beach, on Jan. 9, 2025 issued an order giving the owner of 32 Fairview Boulevard 21 days to correct property maintenance violations or face daily fines.
The order follows testimony and documentary evidence presented by Elsa Batt, a third compliance officer with the Town of Fort Myers Beach, who said the town issued a notice of violation after an initial inspection on July 23, 2024 and a reinspection on Dec. 17, 2024. Batt told the magistrate the property, owned by Sellhart Properties LLC, showed signs of disrepair including missing shutters and damaged fencing; photos and deed and tax records were submitted as exhibits.
"On July 23, 2024, I observed Sellhart Properties LLC in violation of the town of Fort Myers Beach code," Batt said, describing "shuttered windows indicating broken areas," missing fence sections and other evidence included in the record. Batt also said a notice of violation and hearing were posted at town hall and to the property and mailed to the owner's registered agent.
Schmucker said she would issue a written order giving the owner three weeks from the hearing date to bring the property into compliance. "I will issue an order allowing them . . . 21 days so that they could get some time to bring the rest of it up to compliance," Schmucker said. The order, she said, will require the owner to pay a $250 administrative fee and assess a fine of $250 per day for each violation that continues after the compliance date; the magistrate noted statutory authority permits automatic fines if noncompliance continues.
Batt introduced the town's exhibits into the record, including copies of the warranty deed, Lee County tax and property appraiser records, Florida Division of Corporations records showing the registered agent, dated photographs of the property, a copy of the town code provision cited and proof of posting and certified mail to the owner and registered agent at 7901 4th Street North, No. 300, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Schmucker directed that the compliance period run "three weeks from today" and indicated she would issue the order promptly so it could be served on the owner. She also instructed the town to note when the owner reports compliance; if the town receives no notice of abatement after the deadline, fines will begin to accrue automatically.
No representative for Sellhart Properties LLC spoke at the hearing. The special magistrate’s order will be entered into the record and served on the property owner. The town accepted photographic and documentary evidence as exhibits at the hearing.
The hearing record identifies the controlling authorities cited by town staff: Chapter 2, Article 5 of the Fort Myers Beach Land Development Code (procedures for special magistrate hearings), Florida Statutes Chapter 162 (code enforcement), and cited town code provisions in Chapter 6-2, section Q 110.1, which the town asserted the property violated.
