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Magistrate orders fines after owner says temporary panels were part of engineered wall
Summary
A hearing record shows an owner’s agent said PVC panels installed at a beachfront lot were intended to form the base of a permanent concrete-capped seawall; the magistrate found continued noncompliance and imposed daily fines and administrative fees while noting the temporary state permit status.
City counsel told the magistrate that temporary panels placed to protect lost sand had begun showing compromise and that no permanent engineering approvals had been provided to the city. The city asked for an Order No. 11 to impose accrued fines as a lien and asked for administrative fee reimbursement.
Contractor and agent Christopher (Mister) Bump testified that the wall was “designed to be a permanent wall with a concrete cap on the top” and said he had submitted plans to the state. He said the installed PVC panels had been approved as a temporary wall by the state and that the owner later decided to use rock (a revetment) rather than pour a concrete cap.
City counsel asked whether the panels were covered by a city permit; Bump acknowledged no city permit had been obtained for the work described and that state-level temporary permitting had occurred. Miss Herstein (city counsel) confirmed the property received a temporary FDEP permit and that the city did not permit the temporary repairs.
The magistrate noted the long elapsed timeline of intermittent communications and found the property not in compliance, issuing an Order No. 11 with daily fines (the hearing record contains both $250/day and an adjusted $200/day in related items across dockets) and administrative fees (the city recorded $92.43 on related filings). The magistrate instructed payment of administrative fees within 30 days and emphasized that compliance tied to permitted, inspected final work.
Mister Bump said storms and changing state/federal guidance delayed permanent work but told the court he intended to secure the proper permits and engineering for the permanent plan. The magistrate ordered continued monitoring and noted the owner may return to seek mitigation only after permitted, inspected work is complete.
