Santa Rosa Code Enforcement acted quickly this week to put a halt illegal land clearing at a homesite inside a Milton-area subdivision marketed as being in the vicinity of Pensacola Bay.

County officers posted a cease and desist order shortly after arriving Tuesday at a site on San Clemente Drive within the Monterey Shores subdivision. Ryan Troutman, Santa Rosa's County Code Enforcement manager, said Wednesday the land owner, Benjamin Joyner, had received two citations, one carrying a fine of $400 and the other of $850.

"When officer (Kim) Gallagher and I went to the site we observed several violations. Clearing without a permit, no erosion control and possible wetland violations," Troutman said in an email. "We issued the cease and desist onsite, due to the nature of the violation, before any more possible damage could be done."

Efforts to reach Joyner, who the Santa Rosa Property Appraiser's website lists as owning three lots in the Monterey Shores subdivision, were unsuccessful.

Troutman said Joyner committed the environmental violations while "clearing the lot and bringing in fill to make the lot usable." He confirmed the illegal clearing was being conducted on a parcel of land that sits beside a marshland feeding into waters that eventually flow into Pensacola Bay.

An alert area resident sounded the alarm that the land clearing had occurred, likely during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The message was then pushed through a patchwork environmental activist pipeline, from Escambia County-based Barbara Albrecht to Santa Rosa's Save Our Soundside's President Liz Pavelick, to be relayed to state and local officials.

"We were all trying to figure out what to do. Somebody asked 'can somebody send an email?'" Pavelick said. "I sent one over to the county and one over to DEP. I was shocked I got a response so quickly."

Not only did she get a fast reaction from the county, with both County Administrator DeVann Cook and Assistant County Administrator Brad Baker promising to send officers, but also the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which deployed a field officer to the site.

Environmental Specialist Phillip Carnathan sent an email in response to Pavelick's call to action reporting his presence on scene.

"I went out to San Clemente Drive yesterday and met with Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement. There are two adjoining properties there that are both owned by Mr. Joyner. Both properties have been filled in and once we make contact with the Joyner’s we can begin the enforcement process," he said in an email. "If you have any additional information or questions please let me know."

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Efforts to reach Carnathan Wednesday for details of the DEP enforcement process were not successful.

Though both Santa Rosa County and FDEP have faced criticism at times for failing to move quickly and/or sternly enough to halt crimes against the environment, Troutman said calls like the one received Tuesday are given a high priority.

"We try to move quickly on every complaint we receive," he said. "When a complaint of this nature, dealing with waterways and wetlands, comes in it will hold priority over others such as derelict vehicles, trash and debris etc."

The county has taken recent steps to beef up the ranks of its Code Enforcement Department. Pavelick said when she first helped organize Save Our Soundside the county didn't even have code enforcement officers.

She also said that the several groups of environmental activist organizations in the region seem to be finding their feet and working more cohesively with one another toward a common goal.

"We just try to keep on our toes and always watch out there to see who's trying to do what," she said.

A problem exists in that the fines assessed for failing to meet local environmental requirements aren't steep enough to prevent future would-be violators from simply ignoring laws and ordinances, Pavelick said.

"These people take these chances because if they get caught they get a slap on the wrist," she said.

The always outspoken Albrecht said Joyner's neighbors had reported seeing trucks coming and going from the lots he'd filled "in pairs" all weekend.

"I'd like to see them fine this guy $10,000 for every load of fill he brought to the site," she said. "That would make the next bozo think twice."

Troutman said the case against Joyner remains open and the Monterey Shores site continue to be monitored.