Officine Gro, a maker of luxury kitchen appliances that stocks the homes of A-list celebrities like Tommy Hilfiger, Serena Williams and Zoe Saldana, has been fined $250 a day after Palm Beach officials notified them that its showroom was built without proper permits.
The company's construction work first came to authorities' attention on Feb. 22, when Code Officer Julian Felix visited the store at 242 South County Road.
According to Michelle Saint-Manatt, the town's business services supervisor, Felix was sent by the Planning and Building Department to review Officine Gro's business tax receipt application, which said the business only sells electronics and does not offer cooking classes.
When Felix visited the store, the remodeled store had a fully functioning kitchen space, but it was completed without a building permit, he said at a Code Enforcement Committee meeting on May 23. Felix said he spoke with a representative from the company on March 12 and was assured the company would address the violations. A notice of violation was sent on April 8, he said.
After receiving the notice, Officine Gro hired Boca Raton-based Herman Eilberg as a new contractor and applied for a building permit to renovate the store's interior on May 7, according to Felix. The application is currently under review, Felix said at the May Building Code Board meeting.
Eilberg told the commission on May 23 that the application was under review because information about the store's electrical wiring was incomplete, but he promised to get the information needed for the permit as soon as possible.
Board members were astonished at the scale of the renovation work.
“If they were going to do something like this, they would obviously call the Department of Buildings or realize they needed some kind of permit to do the construction work,” said member Martin Klein.
Member Chris Lamoyeux asked Felix why town officials were not made aware of the renovations.
“It's a commercial building, so if there are blinds on the windows you wouldn't be able to see,” Felix replied.
Anthony Barbuto, a lawyer for Officine Gros, said the Gros family lives in Florence, Italy, and was unaware of the city's zoning laws. He asked the commission to give the company 60 days to comply before considering any fines.
The board denied the request, with Vice Chairman Scotch Peloso noting that the company, which has showrooms in Los Angeles, California and New York City, should have known that interior renovations, including changes to electrical wiring or plumbing, typically require a building permit.
The Code Commission then ordered Officine Gro to pay a $150 fee and bring the company into compliance by June 17.
At the time of the board meeting on June 20, Officine Gro had not yet obtained the necessary building permits for the interior.
“The permit is still under review,” Felix said.
Klein asked Felix if the company had taken any steps to comply, other than applying for a permit. Felix responded that he had not spoken to a representative from Officine Gro. Because no representative from Officine Gro was present and did not explain the current status of the matter, the commission voted to impose a fine of $250 per day from June 18 until the company comes into compliance.
Code Board Allows Unauthorized Window Sign Extensions
Officine Gullo also violated rules by having unauthorized signs in its store windows.
At the May 23 meeting, Felix said that after first visiting the store on Feb. 22 and discovering construction, code enforcement officers visited the store again on Feb. 28 after realizing the store had not applied for a permit for the window signs.
The violation notice was sent out on April 9th.
Unlike the building case, the commission granted an extension for the disapproved signs because the building commission's stamp of approval is required before a company can apply for a permit. The commission gave Officine Gros a $150 fine and gave it until Aug. 17 to come into compliance.
Diego Diaz Laza is Palm Beach Daily Newspart of the USA TODAY Florida Network. Contact dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared in the Palm Beach Daily News: Officine Gro fined daily for unlicensed showroom in Palm Beach
