Ocala magistrate affirms staff recommendations across multiple code cases; compliance deadlines set

Ocala Magistrate Ryan Fong on Oct. 29, 2025, adopted city staff recommendations in a hearing that covered more than a dozen code‑enforcement matters, ordering owners to obtain permits and correct violations by specified deadlines and assessing prosecution costs where requested.

Why it matters: The rulings affect commercial and residential properties across Ocala and require some property owners to secure permits, reinstate landscaping and remove or regularize vehicles; several respondents told the magistrate they had begun corrective work but needed time to finish or to resolve permitting questions with the city’s one‑stop permit center.

Uptown Chic Boutique (CE25‑0316): The city alleged repeated outdoor displays in a zoning district that prohibits outdoor sales at 739 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Unit 207. Dale Hollingsworth, chief code official, said the owner had been warned several times and that the city was seeking prosecution costs of $247.11. Owner Sonya Vernon said she was a new business owner, that outdoor displays had been central to her advertising and that removing merchandise harmed sales: “my business kind of like went downhill.” Fong found the business had been in violation but was in compliance at the hearing, ordered continued…