Special magistrate assesses fines, sets compliance deadlines in Loxahatchee Groves enforcement cases

The Town of Loxahatchee Groves special magistrate on March 2, 2026 found property owners in violation of town codes and assessed daily fines and administrative costs while preserving an opportunity to seek mitigation after compliance.

Amity Bernard, the special magistrate, heard evidence and admitted the town's case files before finding violations in case CE25-52 (2793C Road). Bernard said the photographs and staff testimony established noncompliance with the town's code provisions governing business tax receipts and building permits and ordered fines to accrue until the owners obtained required permits and tax receipts.

The magistrate entered fines of $9,000 (covering a 36-day period at $250 per day) for business-tax receipt-related noncompliance and $6,250 (25 days at $250 per day) for building-code violations in CE25-52; the order directs those fines to continue to accrue at $250 per day until the violations are corrected. The record shows the town requested administrative costs of $4,966; the magistrate required administrative costs for the hearing to be paid and directed that prior administrative costs from an earlier order be consolidated in the new order.

Defense counsel for the Palenuela family said the property has long-standing residential and agricultural uses, that drainage and grading plans and an application for agricultural-building exemptions had recently been submitted for review, and that family limitations had slowed the work. "We have been working earnestly to resolve the outstanding code violations," counsel said, asking for a continuance to finish engineering reports and permit submittals.

The magistrate told counsel she would consider requests for fine mitigation if the owners presented evidence that a hired agent had failed to complete required filings, but she emphasized that permit and business-tax processes are straightforward and that fines would begin to accrue to encourage prompt compliance.

In an earlier matter heard the same day (case C26-18, 14327 Tangerine Drive), the town initially sought fines for an RV on site without a current affidavit or permit; the magistrate set a compliance deadline and a fine schedule. At the end of the session the town provided an affidavit showing that the property had come into compliance on April 3, 2026, and the magistrate reopened that file and issued an order finding no violation for that property because compliance occurred before the notice date.

The magistrate's orders set upcoming administrative dates, including a fine-assessment hearing for any continued noncompliance; respondents were told they could return with documentation showing compliance and evidence of any failure by a hired agent to explain missed deadlines. The town will file the signed orders reflecting the rulings.

The magistrate emphasized that, while she will consider mitigation after compliance, her role in these hearings is to determine whether violations exist and to apply the code, not to supervise the permitting process itself.