A Venice special magistrate found the owner of 545 Riviera Street in violation of the city’s offensive-accumulation ordinance and ordered removal of trash, debris and dead yard waste and the hiring of a licensed beekeeper to remove a protected honeybee hive by Feb. 4, 2025. The case will be reviewed Feb. 5, 2025 at 10 a.m. to determine compliance and whether fines should be imposed.

Community Resource Officer and Certified Code Enforcement Officer Wilberto Acosta testified he inspected 545 Riviera Street on Aug. 29, 2024 following a citizen complaint and again on multiple subsequent dates. Acosta described trash and debris in the front, back and sides of the property, standing water in containers, a broken fence line, piles of dry yard waste and a large honeybee hive in the roof line that a certified beekeeper said must be removed (not exterminated) by a professional. Acosta said the property has repeat violations noted in city records going back to 1993 and that photographs taken on several dates were admitted as City Composite Exhibit 1.

The magistrate found the respondent in violation of City of Venice Chapter 34, Section 34-81 (offensive accumulation) and ordered the property cleared by Feb. 4, 2025; failure to abate may result in fines up to $250 per day and repeat-offender designation in future proceedings. The magistrate specified that the bees must be removed by a beekeeper rather than exterminated.

City counsel asked that the respondent be given 30 days to abate the conditions. The magistrate’s order set the compliance deadline and scheduled a Feb. 5 hearing to determine if fines should be imposed.

Ending — The magistrate closed the 545 Riviera Street matter after entering the abatement order and scheduled a compliance hearing for Feb. 5, 2025 at 10 a.m.