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Magistrate accepts settlement agreements and resets multiple code-enforcement hearings in Loxahatchee Groves
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Summary
At the April 6 special magistrate hearing the magistrate acknowledged and approved several settlement agreements (including for a Seventh-day Adventist association property with a compliance date of Oct. 3 and $250/day fines) and continued multiple violation hearings to later dates after parties stipulated to continuances or executed agreements.
The Town of Loxahatchee Groves magistrate accepted multiple settlement agreements and continued several code-enforcement matters after town staff presented stipulations, testimony and documentation.
John Suarez, the town’s code officer, presented violations and proposed stipulations for a cluster of properties along Okeechobee Boulevard and Bridal Road. For the property owned by the Southeastern Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists (14046 Okeechobee Blvd., case CE26-46), the association’s property development and management director, Okima McIntosh Patrick, told the magistrate the owners are executing a settlement that gives them 180 days to obtain permits, remove debris and restart construction, with a compliance date of Oct. 3. The settlement explicitly provides for a $250-per-day fine for each day of noncompliance after Oct. 3; the town said any request to amend the timeframe would need to be presented at the Oct. 13 fine-assessment hearing.
McIntosh Patrick said the owner hopes to finish the project this year and is hiring a new contractor; she asked for the ability to request an extension if hurricane season or other delays necessitate it. The magistrate accepted the settlement agreement and explained she will issue an order acknowledging and approving the parties’ signed stipulation rather than making independent findings of fact.
Other calendar actions included: a continuance to May 20, 2026, for SROK136LLC (case CE26-47) after the town presented affidavit-of-service evidence and counsel’s email stipulating to the new date; approval of a signed settlement for Stanley Borsak and Deborah Wilson (CE26-50) with the magistrate admitting the affidavit of service and an order to follow; and a continuance for Donald N. and Sheryl Tittrell Trust (CE26-48) to April 15, 2026. In several matters the magistrate asked the town to adjust agreed-order language to avoid findings-of-fact wording (which she said she had not independently made) and to clearly address service for the day’s hearings.
The magistrate also paused one matter briefly to allow the town to email its case file to a remote respondent so she could review photographs and documents; the respondent confirmed receipt and the magistrate admitted the town’s evidentiary case file without objection.
Next steps: the magistrate will issue orders acknowledging and approving the signed settlement agreements; compliance dates and fine-assessment hearings remain on the calendar for October and other specified dates.
