Boca Raton Nixes $118K Fine After Appeal From Office Building Owner

The property at 1489 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Fla. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Boca Raton officials unanimously granted an appeal of a $118,000 fine levied against the owner of Palmetto Park Road office building and recorded as a lien against the property, overturning the recommendation of city staff.

The building, located at 1489 W. Palmetto Park Road, had been in poor condition going back to at least 2014, with city officials recording concrete falling from the ceilings in the parking garage and a failure to maintain the main building’s roof free of defects and deterioration. Portions of the garage were closed, but violations continued to pile up until 2021, including citations for work without a permit, the lack of a backup generator, and issues related to fire pumps, fire alarms, emergency exit signs and doors, and emergency lighting.

The building, in 2019, changed hands, and the new owner sought the fines accrued to be overturned. But some of the violations did occur under the new ownership, officials said. The city’s special magistrate, however, had imposed the $118,000 in fines against the property owner for the 118 days between June 14, 2014, and October 8, 2014. In a memorandum to the council, city staff recommended the fine be reduced to $30,000 to account for the incidents that occurred after the change in ownership, as well as “significant staff time and resources … expended by the city over multiple years.”

Since taking over the property, Mark Corlew, principal of Grover Corlew, has significantly renovated the complex, investing millions of dollars into heavy renovations and bringing the once-derelict building into compliance. It has since become a prized property along Palmetto Park Road, branded as “Palmetto Central.” The unique case brought to light underlying debates in Boca Raton over the appeal of previously-levied fines, as well as incentives for investors to improve troubled properties.

In Boca Raton, fines and liens imposed by a special magistrate in land use cases can be appealed directly to the city council. Over the past year, elected officials have debated as to whether the governing body should be ruling on whether to overturn fines at all, however the policy remains in place.

“This is a murky one,” admitted Mayor Scott Singer. “This is a very non-typical situation. I would suggest this is a great opportunity to look at our code enforcement process. We don’t have a program yet – it doesn’t come up often – to encourage someone to invest in a property to work with them on their liens.”

The property at 1489 W.
Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Fla. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

According to the city’s memorandum, staff did not seek additional certification of liens because the property owners began to work on compliance almost immediately after acquiring the building. Even after the change in ownership, significant paperwork remained since the property was in receivership, said Bonnie Miskel, an attorney representing the new owner.

“This is a situation where the buyer of the property went through a significant legal process,” said Councilman Marc Wigder. “After that, they spent millions and millions of dollars in order to produce $356,000 in permit fees.”

Wigder initially supported reducing the fine to $7,500, but a consensus soon formed to vacate the lien in its entirety.

“Hard cases make tough laws, and this one stands alone, so I’m inclined to go with the zero,” Singer would later say.

The council ultimately voted to grant the new property owner’s appeal, eliminating the liens. Council members voted unanimously.