Fort Pierce special magistrate orders compliance, fines across multiple code-enforcement cases

Special Magistrate Jamie Barone on March 12, 2025, ordered owners and business operators at multiple Fort Pierce properties to correct code violations — from overgrown hedges to missing business registrations and a short-term-rental registration — setting deadlines, daily fines and appeal periods.

The hearing, held in Fort Pierce municipal chambers and live-streamed, included cases brought by city code-enforcement staff and testimony from property owners and business representatives. Barone repeatedly emphasized that his role was to apply the city code; he told one respondent, "I don't have the power to change the law," when a resident asked for a permanent exception to a 4-foot-front-yard height limit.

Why it matters: The orders affect residential property maintenance and small businesses along U.S. Highway 1 and other Fort Pierce corridors. Several business rulings require certificate-of-use renewals or risk suspension of utility services; one short-term rental advertisement violation carries a potential $5,000 fine if not corrected.

Court findings and key orders (Votes at a glance)

- 517 S. Eighth St. (Case CE-2025-41517). Owner Santos Ramos Aguirre was found in violation of Fort Pierce Code § 1-25-322(c)(1) for front-yard hedges exceeding the 4-foot height restriction. Barone ordered Aguirre to trim hedges to 4 feet within 30 days; failure to comply will incur a $100 per day fine. Thirty days to appeal was noted.

- 3821 S. U.S. Hwy 1 / Gold Coast Automotive (CE-2024-152). Owner/operator Jason Santiago told the court he had applied to renew the business’s certificate of use and was awaiting a fire-department inspection. The magistrate ordered the business to obtain a certificate of use or cease business activities within 10 days; failure will result in a $250 per day fine and, per city…