Alachua County magistrate hears dozens of code-enforcement cases; rescinds fines for tax-deed buyer who cleared property

The Alachua County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate convened a morning hearing to consider more than two dozen alleged ordinance violations, from tree removals along a designated scenic corridor to sewage discharge, junk and debris, unpermitted building work and nuisance overgrowth. The magistrate administered the oath to all testifying witnesses and proceeded through a reordered docket that included both initial-violation hearings and a penalty phase for previously adjudicated cases.

The county presented evidence in a tree-removal case on Millhopper Road, where Andrew Caniglio, a senior forester and code officer for Alachua County, said the county received a complaint on Jan. 7 and photographed ten removed trees. Caniglio told the magistrate the county recommends a 90-day deadline to come into compliance and, if the property owner does not comply, a $50 daily fine and a $5,000 request for irreparable-damage penalty in addition to $140 in prosecution costs. "The county recommends the respondent be found in violation… and if not in compliance, then pay a fine in the amount of $50 for each day," Caniglio said. Neil Gresha of Alachua County Public Works, who took the photographs, corroborated the count: "I counted the 10 trees," Gresha said. A contractor who identified himself as the manager for Gadsden's Tree Service said five trees were dead, that remaining trees were storm-damaged and that he had applied for permits for the work still needed.

In a separate…