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Special magistrate extends compliance dates, recommends reducing accrued fines to county hard costs
Summary
At an Okeechobee County special magistrate hearing, the magistrate extended compliance deadlines for multiple property owners, warned of $100-per-day fines for ongoing violations, and recommended that the Board of County Commissioners reduce several accrued fines to the county's documented hard costs. BOCC will hear the matters Feb. 26 at 9 a.m.
A special magistrate in Okeechobee County extended compliance deadlines for several property owners and recommended that the Board of County Commissioners reduce accrued fines to the county's documented hard costs, the magistrate and county attorney said at a hearing.
The magistrate accepted county recommendations to extend compliance to Feb. 12, 2026, for two cases where demolition permits or required inspections had lapsed. “If the property is not in compliance by February 12, we're going to start running a $100 per day fine starting on February 13,” the magistrate said, urging owners to schedule final inspections promptly.
In a separate cluster of cases, the county's attorney detailed the administration's hard costs and asked that any recommended reductions not go below those amounts. For Francisco Farias's matter, the county's hard costs were stated as $3,999.98; the magistrate said he would recommend reducing the accrued fine to that amount and told Farias the magistrate's recommendation would be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final action.
Charles Irvin, general counsel for CHL Holdings, said his company acquired a property through foreclosure, cleaned up the underlying code violations and asked for a reduction of an accrued fine. The county reported hard costs of $3,822.35 for that matter; the magistrate said he would recommend a reduction to that amount and noted the BOCC has authority to grant additional relief.
Mariel Socorro Reynoso, who appeared with a translator, requested a reduction of a $6,300 accrued fine; the county confirmed hard costs of $4,034.02 and the magistrate said he would recommend reduction to that figure. The magistrate repeatedly reminded respondents that his authority is limited to recommending action and that the Board of County Commissioners would make any final adjustment.
The clerk announced that the Board of County Commissioners will consider the magistrate's recommendations at its Feb. 26 meeting at 9 a.m. at the historic courthouse, and respondents were encouraged to attend and make any additional arguments to the commissioners.
The magistrate closed the docket after confirming orders would be posted and said the hearing would reconvene next month if necessary.
