Special magistrate imposes $50-a-day fine in Dade City code case, gives owner 48 hours to document trailer registrations

Special Magistrate Erica Augello ruled Nov. 19 that the owner of property at 37825 Martin Luther King Boulevard in Dade City is not in compliance with the city's code for an unpermitted fence and ordered a running fine of $50 per day until the fence is either removed or a permit is pulled. Augello found the property's semi-truck trailers had been registered but not within the timeframe set by her prior administrative order and gave the respondent 48 hours to email exact registration dates so she can set the fine start date accordingly.

Kenneth Allen, a code enforcement officer for the city of Dade City, told the magistrate the city cited VR Strategies LLC for violations of the city's land-development rules, specifically section 4.4.3 on maintaining outdoor storage and section 22-62 for conducting work without a permit. Allen submitted date-stamped photographs taken 11/19/2025 at 08:39 as part of the city's evidence and asked the magistrate to impose enforcement measures, including a requested $100-per-day fine.

The respondent, Michael Hughes, identified himself as the owner of VR Strategies (also referred to in the transcript as ER Strategies) and said he had removed part of the fence and "put registrations on the trailers." He asked for time to file stamped engineering plans for a master permit, saying he expected to submit those plans within 45 to 60 days. "I put registrations on the trailers. I took the fence down," Hughes said, and asked the court and the city to work cooperatively as he develops the site.

Augello asked Hughes for specific dates showing when the trailers were registered and when the fence was removed; Hughes estimated the actions occurred "about a month" to "six weeks" earlier. The magistrate noted those estimates would be after her August 27, 2025 order and said she needs precise dates to determine how many days of fines, if any, should be assessed. "If you or your counsel can email me copying the city in the next 48 hours to get me those dates, then at least I can couch my order to assessing a fine to the date certain when those were registered and when the fence was taken down," Augello said.

Augello said she would not impose the $100-per-day fine the city requested but would instead assess $50 per day, running from the date she can document the trailers' registration (if Hughes provides that date within 48 hours) until the fence is brought into compliance by removal of the posts or issuance of a permit. She said she would draft an initial written order immediately, send it to Hughes' counsel and the city, and amend that order within 48 hours if the respondent supplies the requested documentation. The hearing was adjourned at 10:31 a.m.

In testimony, Allen told the magistrate the city has attempted to secure compliance over an extended period and that the city's role at the hearing was to verify compliance rather than revisit prior deliberations. Hughes said he had invested in improvements to the property since buying it in 2011–12, described plans to develop the site, and emphasized the economic role of his business. The magistrate's written order will specify the compliance dates, the daily fine mechanics, and the process for resolving the fines once compliance is achieved.