Magistrate continues Loxahatchee Groves code case for Villarino property, orders administrative costs

Special Magistrate Amity Barnard on Sept. 17 continued a code-enforcement matter involving property owners Jose Villarino and Ramon A. Villarino Jr. for the parcel at 2241 A Road and ordered administrative costs be paid to the town. The hearing was reset to Jan. 5, 2026, at 9 a.m.

The town presented proof of notice and service in the case. Deanna Thomas, lead code compliance officer for the Town of Loxahatchee Groves, said the notice of violation and notice of hearing were personally delivered to Jose Villarino on Sept. 16, 2025, by John Suarez, a town code officer, and that a prior order was mailed certified to the property owner on Aug. 5, 2025, with a returned signature dated Aug. 7, 2025. Thomas testified the town and the owner had met at town hall and agreed to request a continuance to allow the owner to pursue a property-classification change with the Palm Beach County property appraiser from "vacant" to agricultural.

Barnard admitted the town's evidence file into the record as composite exhibit 1 and said she found the town had provided adequate service. Barnard granted the mutually agreed continuance to Jan. 5, 2026, and assessed administrative costs for the town's Sept. 17 hearing; the magistrate ordered those costs payable within 30 days. Barnard noted she was not setting a compliance date at the continuance and said she would give the town additional time if the case returned in January without a compliance date set.

The violation notices listed Town of Loxahatchee Groves Code of Ordinances section 30-6 (general nuisances, keeping fill on property) and Unified Land Development Code provisions cited by town staff for prohibited uses and residential outdoor storage (ULDC 20-017 and ULDC 20-010(g)(1)). The town filed the full case folder as evidence in support of the continuance request.

The magistrate recorded that the respondents were not present at the hearing but that the town had provided certified-mail and posted notice procedures required for the hearing. The case will return to the magistrate on Jan. 5, 2026, for a status/fine-assessment hearing.