Code enforcement — Malabar, Florida

Code complaints in Malabar are filed online through the town's iWorq reporting software, with a detailed description of the suspected violation, its location and any photos or videos (Town of Malabar).

Malabar cannot act on an anonymous tip. The Code Enforcement page explains that since July 1, 2021, under Senate Bill 60, complainants must provide their name and address before an investigation may be initiated, with one exception for a violation that presents an imminent threat to public health and safety or the destruction of habitat or resources (Town of Malabar). The statute behind it, Section 162.21(3)(b), Florida Statutes, says a code enforcement officer may not initiate an investigation by way of an anonymous complaint (Florida Statutes).

Not every Malabar problem is a code case. Road maintenance, drainage maintenance and overgrown shrubbery in the right-of-way go on the Public Works service request form or by phone to Town Hall at 321-727-7764, option 2, and the Public Works Building at 1435 Centre Street keeps hours of Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Town of Malabar). The town FAQ sends animal concerns to Brevard Animal Control at 321-633-2024 (Town of Malabar FAQ).

Trash questions start with the hauler. Waste Pro USA has been the Town of Malabar's solid waste contractor since January 1, 2022, and service, billing and cart size questions go to (321) 837-0055 (Town of Malabar).

A Malabar code inspector opens each case, notifies the owner and allows a reasonable time to correct the violation, and a violation that continues past that time can go to the town's code enforcement special master (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

Chapter 2, Article VII of the Malabar code, rewritten by Ordinance 00-5 in June 2000, creates the special master under Chapter 162, Florida Statutes. The town administrator picks the special master from qualified candidates for Town Council approval, and the code says that at no time may the special master initiate enforcement proceedings (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2). Notices follow Section 162.12, Florida Statutes.

Two kinds of Malabar cases skip the grace period. A repeat violation, meaning the same provision broken within five years of an earlier finding or admission, goes to hearing without a new correction window, and a violation that is a serious threat or is irreparable or irreversible can be sent to the special master immediately after a reasonable effort to notify the owner (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

Malabar hearings are open to the public and minutes are kept. The town presents first and must prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, testimony is under oath and recorded, formal rules of evidence do not apply, and the accused owner may bring counsel (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2). A case can still be heard after the violation is fixed if it was not corrected by the deadline the inspector set (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

An owner who sells Malabar property during a pending case must disclose the case in writing to the buyer and file notice of the transfer with the code enforcement official within five days; the case is not dismissed, but the new owner gets a reasonable time to correct (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2). The citation division of Article VII was repealed by Ordinance 2017-05 in May 2017 (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

The Malabar special master can fine up to $250 a day for a first violation and $500 a day for a repeat violation, and up to $5,000 per violation found irreparable or irreversible (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

The Malabar caps match the base limits in Section 162.09(2)(a), Florida Statutes, which sets the same $250, $500 and $5,000 figures; higher caps in that section are reserved for counties and municipalities of 50,000 or more people (Florida Statutes). In setting an amount, the special master weighs the gravity of the violation, any steps taken to correct it and any previous violations (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

Fines in Malabar can be reduced. The owner must first comply with the order, ask the code inspector in writing for a compliance inspection, and then, within 20 days of the inspector's written certification, request reconsideration of the fine by the special master (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

Unpaid Malabar fines become liens. A certified copy of an order imposing a fine may be recorded in the public records, where it is a lien on the land and any other property of the violator; fines keep accruing until compliance; and after three months unpaid the special master may authorize the town attorney to foreclose, though no such lien may be foreclosed on a homestead (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2). Appeals of a final order go to circuit court within 30 days (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 2).

Malabar property owners, tenants and occupants must keep their land clean and litter free out to the edge of the road, and an accumulation of refuse on any premises in town is declared a nuisance (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

Chapter 11 of the Malabar code also makes solid waste collection mandatory for every residential and commercial unit, occupied or not (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11). Refuse and recycling may not be set out at the collection point before 5:00 p.m. on the day before collection, and empty containers come back from the curb the same day (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

Burning and burying waste are restricted in Malabar. Garbage, litter, building materials and yard trash may not be accumulated, burned or buried on any property, except that land clearing debris and pasture improvements may be burned on site with a written permit from the fire chief or designee and the Division of Forestry (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

On construction sites, dirt, sand and debris scattered onto neighboring Malabar property must be removed by the contractor by the end of that work day (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11). Last verified: October 13, 2026, on the Town of Malabar website.

Malabar treats weeds, noxious plants and grass taller than 16 inches as a violation on lots in improved subdivisions, within 25 feet of an abutting property and within 15 feet of a road or drainage right-of-way (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

The subdivision rule applies where 25 percent or more of the platted lots have been built on, and the 15-foot strip along a Malabar road or drainage line must also be kept clear of anything that would get in the way of town maintenance (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11). A neighbor of unimproved land can be excused from the 25-foot rule with sworn affidavits from the adjacent owners saying they do not object (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

The Malabar list of noxious vegetation names Australian pine, ear pod tree, chinaberry, Brazilian pepper, melaleuca, Chinese tallow, air potato, kudzu, climbing fern, African bowstring hemp and castor bean, plus anything on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council invasive list (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11). Owners are not required to clear growth if removal would destroy the habitat of the Florida Scrub Jay, gopher tortoise, black indigo snake or any other state or federally endangered species (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

The vegetation process in Malabar is set out step by step. The code enforcement officer sends written notice by certified mail giving 10 calendar days to correct; if the growth remains, a hearing officer may fine the owner up to $50 a day and order the town to do the work; the cost becomes a lien recorded if unpaid 30 days after notice, and the town may foreclose 60 days after recording (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

Personal property abandoned on public land in Malabar gets a posted notice giving 48 hours for removal, after which the enforcement officer may have it removed and destroyed or, for a vehicle or vessel, towed (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

A motor vehicle without a current registration and license plate is presumed abandoned under the Malabar code, and even a plated vehicle can count if it has been left inoperative or unprotected from the elements; a vehicle separated into parts for at least seven consecutive days counts as dismantled (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11). Towing, removal and storage follow the schedule of fees adopted by Brevard County (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).

Leaving abandoned property on Malabar public property can cost up to $250 a day for each separate article, and the officer may instead enforce through the state and town provisions for code enforcement by citation, in which case the posted 48-hour notice is not required (Malabar Town Code, Chapter 11).