By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Pool safety violations carrying daily fines, disputes over public right-of-way obstructions, and repeated breaches of the city’s tree protections will be reviewed Wednesday, May 6 at Coral Gables code enforcement hearing, offering a snapshot of how the city enforces its standards on safety, landscaping and property upkeep.

Pool barrier failure draws steepest fine

The most consequential case involves a property at 600 Santurce Avenue, where Santurce Estate LLC faces a $1,500 base fine for failing to maintain a proper protective pool enclosure. According to the citation, the gate does not comply with the city’s protective barrier requirements, and no kiddie safety net was present at the time of inspection. City code requires pool gates to be of the spring-lock type, automatically closing and latching at all times, and to remain locked when the pool is not in use. A $250 daily running fine is accruing until the property achieves full compliance.

The Santurce case is among the more serious on the agenda not only because of its financial exposure but because of what the underlying code is designed to prevent. Pool barrier requirements exist specifically to protect young children from unsupervised water access. The city does not treat such deficiencies as administrative technicalities.

Boulders in the right-of-way prompt escalating penalty

A property at 755 Blue Road presents the hearing’s clearest public-space dispute. Owners Kevin Neal and Annick Iwanowski are cited for placing boulders in the city right-of-way swale abutting their private property, in violation of the city’s obstruction ordinance. That ordinance prohibits anything placed in a street, sidewalk, or swale area that creates potential danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the community. Officers have ordered immediate removal. If the boulders remain past the compliance deadline, a $500 daily running fine will commence — a penalty structure that signals the city regards this as a matter of public safety, not a landscaping dispute to be resolved on the property owner’s timeline.

Three tree cases reflect the city’s canopy enforcement posture

Three of the remaining citations involve tree and shrub violations, a category of enforcement that has long distinguished Coral Gables from surrounding municipalities. The city’s tree ordinance is among the most detailed in Miami-Dade County, and the current docket illustrates that it applies with equal force to specimen trees and ornamental plantings alike.

At 933 Paradiso Avenue, owner Gal Magril faces a $500 citation for hatracking a black olive tree on private property. Hatracking — the severe topping of a tree that strips away its canopy structure — is classified under city code as tree abuse, and any act of tree abuse that renders a tree nonviable is treated as the effective removal of that tree, triggering full permitting and replacement obligations. The remedy is not simply cosmetic; the property owner must obtain all permits required under Chapter 82 and come into full compliance with the ordinance’s terms.

A similar citation was issued to Scott and Liliana Kravetz at 625 Tiziano Avenue for the improper topping of a sea grape on private property. Officers are requiring a certified arborist report with a restoration plan in addition to an after-the-fact pruning permit. The sea grape is a species the city recognizes as a characteristic element of South Florida’s native landscape, and its improper pruning carries the same legal weight as damage to a canopy tree.

The oldest case in the current docket — dating to July 2024 — concerns 6103 Riviera Drive, where owner Vivian Augusto de Lima Giuliani is cited for pruning tree limbs without the required city permit. The case was continued once, in November 2024, and now returns for resolution. That a citation issued nearly two years ago remains on the docket speaks to the city’s willingness to pursue code compliance through the full administrative process rather than allow unresolved violations to quietly expire.

Two additional matters complete the docket

At 501 Majorca Avenue, Savario H. Wells III and Jennifer B. Marks face a $500 citation for placing wood debris with exposed nails in the public right-of-way — material the city classified as an obstruction creating potential danger to public health and safety. A notice of appeal has been filed. At 434 Alcazar Avenue, a $100 citation was issued to property owner Anis N. Saleh for placing trash in the right-of-way earlier than the city’s permitted 6:00 p.m. Thursday threshold. The property falls within the city’s historic district, where code standards apply uniformly regardless of the character of the address.

The hearing starts at 9 am in the 427 Biltmore Way First Floor Conference Room is open to the public and also accessible via Zoom at meeting ID 820 0432 7867.