Magistrate authorizes city to secure vacant St. Pete Beach pool, recover abatement costs

Special Magistrate Erica Augello on May 11 ordered the City of St. Pete Beach to take action to secure a vacant property with an unsecured, stagnant pool and to recover the cost of those repairs from the property owner.

The city’s code‑enforcement officer presented photographs and testimony showing the pool and surrounding property were in disrepair after recent storms and that the pool provided an open invitation to the public. The officer told the magistrate the pool was "stagnant and requires a safety fence," and that the trailer and other debris had been removed but the pool remained accessible.

Augello said the record established a present threat to public health and safety and invoked her authority under the city code and Chapter 162 of the Florida Statutes to require the "least restrictive means necessary" to eliminate the hazard. She ordered the city manager to make reasonable repairs to bring the property into compliance — for example, erecting a pool perimeter fence or otherwise securing/covering the pool — and directed the city to avoid unnecessary encroachment on private property while correcting the hazard.

The magistrate also ordered the city to calculate its actual costs for those repairs; she retained jurisdiction to issue a follow‑up order imposing a lien or other recovery mechanism once costs were known. "I am going to allow the city to make all reasonable repairs which are required to bring the property into compliance and charge the violator with the reasonable cost of repairs," Augello said, instructing staff to use the least restrictive option that eliminates the public risk.

City counsel indicated the municipal code has provisions that allow the city to abate hazardous conditions and recover costs; the magistrate said the order would include statutory references and be mailed to the property owner once drafted. The hearing record shows the city estimated abatement work could include boarding windows, removing debris, repairing or replacing the pool enclosure, and installing a temporary safety measure around the pool.

The magistrate set no dollar amount at the hearing and said she would issue a precise cost order after the city completes the work and documents expenses. The matter will be revisited in a later administrative order to finalize the amount to be charged to the property owner.