Jacksonville Beach, FL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 19 defines a public nuisance broadly in § 19-1(a), including any condition that injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others or poses a hazard to people or property. Section 19-1(b)(4) then lists, as a declared nuisance, any building or other structure in such a dilapidated condition that it is unfit for human habitation, or kept in such an unsanitary condition that it is a menace to the health of people residing in the vicinity, or presenting a more than ordinarily dangerous fire hazard in the vicinity where it is located. The list is expressly not conclusive. The fire chapter reaches the same ground from another side: § 10-3.04(b) declares buildings that are structurally unsafe, lack adequate egress, or are dangerous through dilapidation, fire hazard, disaster damage, or abandonment to be public nuisances that shall be abated by repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal.

The building official and code enforcement officers are the designated enforcement officials under § 19-2, with authority to inspect, issue orders and impose a lien for the actual abatement cost, plus a right of entry on real property. Section 19-3 starts the clock: after investigation they prepare a cost estimate and serve the owner, occupant or custodian with a written notice to remove, suppress, or abate within twenty (20) days after service, by hand delivery or certified mail, or by posting on the premises when no one can be found after reasonable and diligent inquiry.

An objection must be made in writing within ten (10) days of delivery, mailing or posting, and a hearing before the special magistrate follows at the first regularly scheduled meeting after the request (§ 19-4). The city carries the burden of proof by the greater weight of the evidence. A final order can be appealed to the circuit court of Duval County within thirty (30) days, with no automatic stay (§ 19-5). If the nuisance remains after the notice period, the city abates it (§ 19-6), and the cost becomes a special assessment lien that bears interest at the Florida Department of Financial Services legal rate unless paid within thirty (30) days after imposition and is superior to all claims except taxes (§ 19-7).