Ocala magistrate adopts orders, extends compliance deadlines in multiple property-maintenance cases

Ryan Fong, an attorney appointed by the City of Ocala to act as magistrate, presided over a code enforcement hearing on Aug. 27, 2025, at 10:31 a.m. The magistrate adopted staff recommendations and entered orders in a series of property-maintenance cases; two respondents received extensions to complete corrective work.

The hearing combined routine enforcement findings with two contested personal-explanation statements. Dale Hollingsworth, the city’s chief code official and manager of the code enforcement division, presented most staff cases and evidence, including photographs. Magistrate Fong accepted the staff evidence and sworn testimony and entered orders consistent with staff recommendations in each matter.

Why this matters: the orders set compliance deadlines, assess administrative costs to property owners and, in several cases, label future violations as repeat offenses that may lead to certified orders being recorded in Marion County public records. Those outcomes can trigger daily fines, city abatement work and liens if corrective actions are not completed.

Key individual matters discussed included a commercial corner property represented by Top Notch Corners LLC, a vacant lot used for storage in northwest Ocala where the owner described health challenges and long-term residence, and several repeat violations involving vacant lots and homeowner-association property. For the commercial corner at 415 SE 32nd Street, the city…