The Volusia County Code Enforcement Board has given a nightlife business owner until mid-March to meet county standards on building, zoning and the use of his property north of DeLand.

“I see progress, and I see you’re on the job,” Code Board Chair Chad Lingenfelter told Pete Ferrentino Feb. 21.

Ferrentino owns City Limits Taproom & Grille, located at 4425 North U.S. Highway 17, DeLand. The business has been cited for alleged violations of the county’s building, zoning and property-use ordinances since last spring, but Ferrentino has reduced the number of outstanding violations. Yet, any violations could be costly.

For his part, Ferrentino said the county’s code officers continue to raise more new issues of violations, even as he works to fix problems they previously noted.

“I try to explain to them, ‘I’m not your enemy,’” he told The Beacon. “I’m not trying to fight this. I’m just trying to do this [resolve code violations] at the cheapest price possible in a difficult economy.”

Reducing the violations

In October, the Code Enforcement Board recognized seven violations, but it deferred action against Ferrentino because of his promise to comply fully with the county’s regulations. 

The most recent session of the Code Enforcement Board included a hearing to impose fines or liens against the business and Ferrentino on four remaining counts:

— Construction without required permits

— Setting up a fence without a permit

— Not having a site plan in compliance with county standards 

— Having an accessory structure, specifically a stage and a canopy, on the property 

Each of the violations carries a fine of $250 per day, meaning the total daily fine for the combined violations would be $1,000 per day.

“What we’re asking for is there be a fine to begin next month on the 21st [of March],” Code Compliance Manager Chris Hutchison told the board.

The Code Enforcement Board, however, noted Ferrentino’s efforts to meet the county’s demands and voted to defer the beginning of the fines until April 18, unless the board determines at its April 17 meeting that more time is needed to cure the violations. 

“As staff, we provide a recommendation. The board makes the decision,” county Chief Building Official Kerry Leuzinger said.

Hiring outside help 

Ferrentino hired an engineer to draft a site plan for the City Limits property, as required by the county, but the movement toward finishing the business property’s layout has been slowed by delays in getting survey data and topographic details. Once the site plan is finished and submitted to county regulators for their approval, Michael Wojtuniak, the engineer, said many of the violations will be resolved.

“We are working on the final site plan, and the site plan drives the ship,” he informed the board. “All these code-enforcement items drive around the site plan, so we actually met with staff.”

Wojtuniak added the task is not a quick one. 

“I can have the initial conceptual layout most likely in April, but to have a complete site plan done, it’s going to be at least a six-month process,” he said. “It’s a time-consuming process, but you’ll be seeing the progress on this.”

Enforcement extends outward

The code-enforcement staff said that City Limits patrons often park on the south portion of the property and also take their fun — sometimes noisy — there, as well, and that is a violation of the allowed use of the property.

“They’re still using the south part of the lot for parties and events without a permit,” Hutchison said. 

“Business is going on, as usual. They do not stop,” he added. “Every weekend they have something going on. Loud music and many people.”

For his part, Ferrentino expresses frustration with the county’s actions against him and his business, describing the code-compliance policy as “selective enforcement.” 

“That’s completely incorrect,” Leuzinger said in a telephone conversation with The Beacon. “We’ve met him and given a list of what needs to be done.”  

As a sign of good faith, Ferrentino said, the music at City Limits stops at 11 o’clock. Some neighbors had in past months complained to county officials — including the Sheriff’s Office — about late-night noise from the business.

Yet, the code-enforcement problems remain. Once Ferrentino expends the time, money and effort to deal with a single code problem, he said, code officers show up, take photos and discover something else, another matter of noncompliance, that they demand be addressed. An inspection for one violation often results in additional surprise findings of noncompliance. 

“Every time I meet with them it’s something,” Ferrentino said, adding one of the most recent demands from the county is that he “put a handicapped ramp on the stage.”

The fence on the property and a citation for his not having a permit for it, Ferrentino said, should not be an issue. 

“How did they not see a 3-acre fence when they were out here 10 times?” he wondered.

Ferrentino also said the fence was originally built by a previous owner of the property, when it was a barbecue restaurant known as Pitmasters. He said, too, that he found a permit for the fence.

Circumstances beyond one’s control?

Ferrentino backed up his engineer’s story about delays in finishing the site plan for City Limits.

“A surveyor — it took two months to get him out here,” he told The Beacon.

Ferrentino hopes the site plan will cure any lingering and unresolved code issues — and remove the threat of thousands of dollars in crippling fines — and thus allow him to focus on running his business.

“They create rabbit holes that never end,” he concluded.

“We’ve told him what needs to be done,” Leuzinger said. 

Leuzinger agreed the submission and approval of a site plan for City Limits should cure many of the outstanding issues.

If indeed there was construction without first securing a building permit, “we can get an after-the-fact permit,” he said.

In any case, Ferrentino’s story has come to the attention of County Chair Jeff Brower. Brower, in advance of the Code Enforcement Board’s then-upcoming Oct. 18, 2023, meeting, wrote an email to Leuzinger, Growth and Resource Management Director Clay Ervin, and Assistant County Attorneys Paolo Soria and Sebrina Slack, as well as Ferrentino, questioning the effects of county regulators upon local businesses.

“We’ll see in April,” Leuzinger said. “I am trying to sell the county as a great place to do business. This looks like an ongoing attack on business,” Brower wrote.

“How is an owner supposed to comply with a moving target? Most of the things on this list have been part of the business long before it was City Limits,” he continued.

“What is the process for the owner to contest this?” Brower’s cyber-letter dated Oct. 10, 2023, concluded.

As Ferrentino and county officials await the completion of the City Limits site plan, Leuzinger agreed the Code Enforcement Board may once again allow Ferrentino more time to meet the county’s building regulations.

“We’ll see in April,” Leuzinger said.