OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City of Miami Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Hearing - May 4, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, May 4, 2026
BodyMiami, Florida
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, May 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:44:40
Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

If your property's folio number begins with zero.

0:16

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the meeting of the City of Miami Code Enforcement.

0:22

My name is Darcy Siegel, and I will be presiding as a special master, uh special magistrate this morning.

0:31

Before we begin, I ask that everybody please rise and state the Pledge of Allegiance with me and then remain standing so that you can be sworn in.

0:50

One day other individuals have you can be sworn in if you are going to be testifying this morning.

1:03

All those who intend to testify on this day or any other matter, please stand and raise your right hand.

1:11

Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give today is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

1:20

Thank you.

1:21

You may have a seat.

1:34

Thank you.

1:38

One of the sala necessita assistancia con inglés.

1:59

Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you would translate from English to Creole or Creole to English to the best of your ability?

2:07

Thank you.

2:18

No.

3:14

Each case will be called and the respondent whose property andor business is the alleged violator, will be asked to plead guilty or not guilty to the issued violation or violations.

3:28

If the respondent pleads guilty, both the city code compliance department and the respondent will have an opportunity to explain what's going on, and then as the special magistrate, I will decide how much time, if any, will be given to comply the violations and any amount of per day DM lien to be issued.

3:54

Daily fines imposed can be up to 250 dollars per day for a residential property and up to 1,000 per day for a non-residential commercial property for the first time violation and up to $500 per day for a residential property and up to $5,000 per day for a non-residential commercial property for a repeat violation.

4:24

If the respondent pleads not guilty, the city through the assistant city attorney will present its case.

4:32

After the city presents its case, the respondent will be permitted to present its defense.

4:39

Both the city and the respondent will have an opportunity to present evidence and to examine and cross-examine witnesses.

5:00

If the respondent is not present and the respondent's representative wishes to present the respondent's defense, that res that representative must either be a licensed attorney in the state of Florida or have a valid power of attorney or some other legal document which gives them the authority to present the property's interests.

5:14

If the representative does not have a valid power of attorney or other legal document, then the case will be heard in abstention.

5:23

And the representative does not have the legal authority to present a defense or testify before me.

5:31

If a hearing is requested through a plea of not guilty, the hearing is conducted in an informal manner.

5:38

There are no formal rules of evidence.

5:41

However, all discussions, presentations, and questions are limited to matters relating directly to the violation cited.

5:52

After all the evidence is presented, I will determine whether the respondent is guilty or not guilty.

6:00

If found guilty, I will order the violation to be corrected by a certain date, and if not corrected, the relevant the relevant per diem lien will be determined by me and imposed.

6:14

If I determine the violation is one that has created an irreputable or irreversible harm through the evidence and testimony presented, an additional fine of up to $15,000 may be issued.

6:47

If the violation is not corrected by the required date, the per diem lien as ordered today shall issue without further hearing.

6:58

The lien imposed will be a lien against the cited property and any other real or personal property owned by the violator.

7:09

If you need to request an extension of time after the imposition of time to comply today, you may do so online.

7:19

There is a website for you to do that, and that is WW dot MiamiGov.com.

7:27

Again, it's W.

7:31

MiamiGov.com and in the search queue, type in extension of time.

7:39

You must request the extension of time before the time given expires.

7:45

So for instance, if I give you 30 days to come into compliance, don't wait until day 31 to ask for an extension of time.

7:54

You have to do it before the 30 days expires.

7:58

So any time from today to day 29, you can ask for an extension of time.

8:03

For those here for an extension of time, please be prepared to tell me and let me know where you are in the process of coming into compliance with the violation, how much time you're seeking to extend your compliance date, and then I will also request any relevant information and recommendations from the city.

8:26

Lastly, any orders entered by me as a magistrate may be appealed to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida within 30 days of today's date.

8:54

Extension of time, page 97.

8:59

Property address 853 Northwest Third Street.

9:07

Good morning.

9:10

Could you state your name for the record, please?

9:13

My name is Lucilo Ramos, so I'm an attorney.

9:16

You're representing the owner of the property.

9:20

Wait, before you proceed, could you just um give us your office address, please?

9:24

2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, third floor, Coral Gables, 33134.

9:31

Okay, Mr.

9:31

Ramos.

9:32

Um you're here this morning representing your client, Golden Towers LLC.

9:39

No, no.

9:40

No, no, it's pages.

9:40

This is page 97.

9:41

It's uh 853 properties LLC, it's here for an extension of time.

9:48

Okay.

9:50

Okay, so that's BLAC 853 properties LLC.

9:55

That's correct.

9:56

Okay, I stand corrected.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Code Enforcement█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Building Permits█████████████████████████31%
Illegal Dumping███4%
Procedural███4%
Historic Preservation██2%
Pending Litigation██2%
Property Maintenance█1%
Summary of Proceedings

City of Miami Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Hearing - May 4, 2026

The meeting, presided by Special Magistrate Darcy Siegel, addressed multiple code enforcement cases in Miami, Florida. The hearing began with the Pledge of Allegiance and swearing in of participants. Respondents pleaded guilty or not guilty to violations such as work without permits, illegal units, failure to maintain property, and others. The Magistrate issued orders granting extensions of time and setting compliance deadlines and daily fines.

Extensions of Time

  • Page 97 – 853 NW 3rd St: Attorney Lucilo Ramos represented 853 Properties LLC. Violations for no certificate of use, business tax receipt, and failure to maintain lot. Extension of 120 days granted.
  • Page 107 – 3311 SW 21st St: Juan Felipe Peralta sought extension for work without a permit. City recommended 120 days; granted 120 days.
  • Page 101 – 350 SW 15th Rd: Representative Andrea Diotarlevi with valid power of attorney. Extension of 120 days granted for work without permit and work in right-of-way.

Violation Hearings (Guilty Pleas)

  • Page 19 – 500 NE 68th St: Nancy Escobar (via son) pleaded guilty to work without a finalized permit and failure to have a certificate of appropriateness. Granted 120 days to comply; failure results in $150/day fine.
  • Page 10 – 1326 NW 45th St: Jose Ale Gonzalez pleaded guilty to maintaining structure encroaching in setbacks and work without permit. 120 days, $150/day.
  • Page 12 – 1431 NW 43rd St: Rolf Peron for New Line Management Inc. pleaded guilty to work without a finalized permit (commercial renovation). 120 days, $250/day fine.
  • Page 21 – 528 NE 62nd St: Javier Payet for Payette Investment Group LLC pleaded guilty to tree removal without permit. 120 days, $250/day. Noted that permit is part of master construction permit; may need separate tree permit.
  • Page 58 – 1853 NW 15th St: Juan Guzman pleaded guilty to work without permit and illegal units. 120 days, $150/day.
  • Page 31 – 5450 SW 5th St: Ariel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to work without permit for driveway and fence. 120 days, $150/day.
  • Page 14 – 1774 NW 42nd St: Federico Fernando Crespo pleaded guilty to work without permit. 120 days, $150/day. Some subpermits still in process.
  • Page 5 – 1042 NW 50th St: Derek Blake pleaded guilty to work without permit. 120 days, $250/day. Also has pending unsafe structures hearing; Magistrate provided contact for reset.
  • Page 29 – 1522 NW 41st St: Gino Valeta for Valetta Group LLC pleaded guilty to work without permit. 120 days, $250/day.

Absentia Hearings (Respondent Not Present)

  • Page 69 – 1845 NW 49th St: Violations for failure to maintain facade, register structure, and blighted. Inspector Bondur testified. Found guilty; 7 days to comply, $250/day fine.
  • Page 71 – 4500 NW 16th Ave: Violation for failure to register the lot. Inspector Hedgebird testified. Found guilty; 7 days to comply, $250/day.
  • Page 80 – 1920 NW 21st Terr: Multiple violations including illegal units, work without permits, improper storage, parking on unimproved surfaces, etc. Inspector Gibbons testified. Found guilty; 7 days to comply, $250/day.
  • Page 83 – 701 SW 45th Ave: Violations for failure to maintain and improper parking (inoperable vehicles). Inspector Morales testified. Found guilty; 7 days to comply, $250/day. Property had prior lien.

Resets and Other Actions

  • Page 60 – 743 NW 7th St Rd: Charles Hand’s case reset due to missing file; not heard.
  • Page 27 – 259 NE 57th St: Inspector Lubin case reset.
  • Page 94 – 5555 NW 17th Ave: Solid waste violation for improper dumping; reset due to incorrect registered agent address.
  • Extension of time requests for absent respondents were denied.

Key Outcomes

  • All respondents who appeared and pleaded guilty received compliance deadlines of 120 days (except absentia cases which received 7 days).
  • Daily fines set at $150 for residential homestead properties and $250 for non-residential or non-homestead properties, or as recommended by the city.
  • Respondents were informed they could request further extensions online before the deadline.
  • Several cases were reset for future hearings due to procedural issues.

Meeting Transcript

If your property's folio number begins with zero. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the meeting of the City of Miami Code Enforcement. My name is Darcy Siegel, and I will be presiding as a special master, uh special magistrate this morning. Before we begin, I ask that everybody please rise and state the Pledge of Allegiance with me and then remain standing so that you can be sworn in. One day other individuals have you can be sworn in if you are going to be testifying this morning. All those who intend to testify on this day or any other matter, please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give today is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Thank you. You may have a seat. Thank you. One of the sala necessita assistancia con inglés. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you would translate from English to Creole or Creole to English to the best of your ability? Thank you. No. Each case will be called and the respondent whose property andor business is the alleged violator, will be asked to plead guilty or not guilty to the issued violation or violations. If the respondent pleads guilty, both the city code compliance department and the respondent will have an opportunity to explain what's going on, and then as the special magistrate, I will decide how much time, if any, will be given to comply the violations and any amount of per day DM lien to be issued. Daily fines imposed can be up to 250 dollars per day for a residential property and up to 1,000 per day for a non-residential commercial property for the first time violation and up to $500 per day for a residential property and up to $5,000 per day for a non-residential commercial property for a repeat violation. If the respondent pleads not guilty, the city through the assistant city attorney will present its case. After the city presents its case, the respondent will be permitted to present its defense. Both the city and the respondent will have an opportunity to present evidence and to examine and cross-examine witnesses. If the respondent is not present and the respondent's representative wishes to present the respondent's defense, that res that representative must either be a licensed attorney in the state of Florida or have a valid power of attorney or some other legal document which gives them the authority to present the property's interests. If the representative does not have a valid power of attorney or other legal document, then the case will be heard in abstention. And the representative does not have the legal authority to present a defense or testify before me. If a hearing is requested through a plea of not guilty, the hearing is conducted in an informal manner. There are no formal rules of evidence. However, all discussions, presentations, and questions are limited to matters relating directly to the violation cited. After all the evidence is presented, I will determine whether the respondent is guilty or not guilty. If found guilty, I will order the violation to be corrected by a certain date, and if not corrected, the relevant the relevant per diem lien will be determined by me and imposed. If I determine the violation is one that has created an irreputable or irreversible harm through the evidence and testimony presented, an additional fine of up to $15,000 may be issued. If the violation is not corrected by the required date, the per diem lien as ordered today shall issue without further hearing. The lien imposed will be a lien against the cited property and any other real or personal property owned by the violator. If you need to request an extension of time after the imposition of time to comply today, you may do so online. There is a website for you to do that, and that is WW dot MiamiGov.com. Again, it's W. MiamiGov.com and in the search queue, type in extension of time. You must request the extension of time before the time given expires. So for instance, if I give you 30 days to come into compliance, don't wait until day 31 to ask for an extension of time. You have to do it before the 30 days expires. So any time from today to day 29, you can ask for an extension of time. For those here for an extension of time, please be prepared to tell me and let me know where you are in the process of coming into compliance with the violation, how much time you're seeking to extend your compliance date, and then I will also request any relevant information and recommendations from the city. Lastly, any orders entered by me as a magistrate may be appealed to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida within 30 days of today's date. Extension of time, page 97. Property address 853 Northwest Third Street. Good morning. Could you state your name for the record, please? My name is Lucilo Ramos, so I'm an attorney. You're representing the owner of the property. Wait, before you proceed, could you just um give us your office address, please? 2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, third floor, Coral Gables, 33134. Okay, Mr.

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