By Coral Gables Gazette staff

The Coral Gables Code Enforcement Board convenes Wednesday, April 15 at 8:30 a.m. with its most consequential historic preservation case in recent memory at the top of the docket: a four-count enforcement action against the owner of a historically designated property at 134 Florida Avenue, including a citation under the city’s demolition-by-neglect ordinance — the most serious tool available to the city short of court action.

Historic property faces four simultaneous violations

The property is owned by AEBP Services Corp, registered to Andres Barboza. The city’s code enforcement officer, identified on the agenda as Selva, has cited the property under four separate ordinances simultaneously, a concentration of violations that signals the city views the structure’s historic and structural integrity as actively at risk. The four cases were initiated in January 2026.

The lead citation — demolition by neglect under Section 8-108 of the city code — is not a routine maintenance violation. The ordinance applies exclusively to historically designated properties and is invoked when a structure shows signs of deterioration serious enough to jeopardize its architectural integrity, structural stability, or public safety. Among the conditions the ordinance covers: deteriorated facades, defective foundations, failing roofs and walls, inadequate waterproofing, broken or missing windows and doors, and concrete spalling. It explicitly prohibits variances from its maintenance standards, and it strips a property of its historic tax exemption eligibility if the damage results from neglect.

Three additional citations accompany the demolition-by-neglect charge. One cites failure to meet the city’s general property maintenance requirements under Section 34-203(g). A second cites structural deficiencies in floors, walls, ceilings, and roofs under Section 105-278 — conditions the ordinance defines as endangering the safety of occupants. The third cites the replacement of wood siding without the required building permits or development approvals, a violation of both the state building code and city zoning requirements. Across all four cases, the remedy is the same: obtain after-the-fact permits, legalize or remove unpermitted work, and repair and maintain the structure to code, including color palette approval for any painting.

The agenda does not disclose when prior warnings, if any, were issued to the owner before formal violation notices were filed in January.

Stalled construction case approaches lien action

The board will also take up a long-running compliance failure at 2700 Ponce de León Boulevard that has now entered lien proceedings. The case — filed in August 2022 against Pablo Rodriguez and MMSDDR Ponce LLC — produced a guilty finding in October of that year, with a board order requiring a structural engineer’s report within seven days and full completion of work by April 2, 2023. The daily fine was set at $1,000, with a $108.75 administrative fee. More than three years past that compliance deadline, the building process has not commenced, no permit inspections have occurred in over six months, and the permit has expired. The city issued a Notice of Intent to Lien on January 16, 2026; the owner has requested a second administrative hearing in response. The agenda does not disclose the current total of accrued fines — an omission that leaves a material fact off the public record going into the hearing.

A second status case involves 300 Mendoza Avenue, where Building 300 LLC was found guilty in February 2024 of installing mini-split air conditioning units without a permit. The board set a 90-day compliance window at $250 per day. The agenda provides no updated officer comments and lists the remedy as N/A, leaving the current compliance status unclear.

Tree violations, unpermitted work among new cases

Among the six new cases, two involve unpermitted pruning of city-owned trees on public rights-of-way — a violation the city has been enforcing with increased frequency. The more significant of the two involves the pruning of seven live oaks on the right-of-way at 4705 Granada Boulevard, owned by Valentin Lopez and Cristina Conte Musibay. A second case at 3145 Segovia Street, owned by Mabelp Lara, involves two right-of-way trees. Both owners are required to obtain after-the-fact permits and submit reports from ISA-certified arborists on tree viability. A third tree case — one live oak improperly pruned on private property at 2217 Red Road — follows the same remediation path. Separately, 7801 Los Pinos Boulevard, owned by FN Los Pinos LLC, faces a work-without-permit citation covering electrical work, light fixture replacement, and a front door replacement.

Commercial blight, expired permits round out agenda

A commercial property at 3894 SW 8th Street, owned by Manhattan Land Holdings Corp, carries three simultaneous citations that together describe a property the city characterizes as blighted and abandoned. The owner faces violations for exterior deterioration, an incomplete structure that has exceeded the one-year permitted construction window, and failure to register the property on the city’s Abandoned Property Registry — a requirement triggered by the two preceding citations. Three expired permit cases — covering a re-roof at 1545 Cantoria Avenue, a patio and walkway at 1301 Granada Boulevard permitted in 2021 and still unfinalized, and an interior remodel at 1300 Ponce de León Boulevard — round out the agenda.

The board meets at the Police and Fire Headquarters Community Meeting Room, 2151 Salzedo Street. The session is available via Zoom at meeting ID 820 0432 7867 and is broadcast live on Coral Gables TV Channel 77.