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Magistrate upholds school-zone camera ticket; petitioner disputes camera placement and signage
Summary
A petitioner who received a school-zone camera notice argued the camera placement and small signage violated FDOT guidance; the magistrate relied on city evidence (video, calibration logs) and state statute authority to uphold the $100 fine and administrative cost.
The special magistrate reviewed camera stills, video and calibration logs showing a 2022 Tesla recorded at 44 mph in a posted 30 mph school safety zone and denied Americo L'Estarsa's appeal.
City evidence included photographs, a time-stamped video and a camera calibration log showing operational tests before and after the recorded event. The city's legal counsel said the device, the calibration records and the transfer-of-liability paperwork supported enforcement under city ordinance 20-24-48.
L'Estarsa contested whether the camera must be physically inside the demarcated school-zone line and said he had not received calibration records in advance; he also argued the signage was too small to provide adequate notice. The magistrate told L'Estarsa that public records procedures are available to obtain evidence ahead of hearings and said he did not read the statute as requiring the camera to be inside the painted or posted zone: "For a practical reason, in order to capture vehicles as they enter the school zone, by necessity, the camera must be forward of that school zone line," the magistrate said.
Applying the statutory standard for camera-based enforcement, the magistrate found the city's evidence sufficient and ordered the petitioner to pay a $100 fine and $89.49 in administrative costs; a written order will follow by mail.
