Dinosaur Adventure Land Building Permit Violations — Escambia County

Kent Hovind operated Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola for years without required building permits, leading to a five-year legal battle with Escambia County. He pleaded no contest to three counts in 2006 and paid $675 in fines.

The Theme Park

Dinosaur Adventure Land was a creationist theme park operated by Kent Hovind and Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) on a residential lot in Pensacola, Florida. The park featured exhibits and rides designed to promote young-earth creationism, including displays claiming that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. It attracted visitors from across the country who followed Hovind’s ministry.

The Permit Dispute

On September 13, 2002, Escambia County charged Hovind with failure to observe county zoning regulations — a misdemeanor. The core issue was straightforward: Hovind had constructed buildings on the Dinosaur Adventure Land property without obtaining the required building permits, which would have cost as little as $50.

Hovind contested the charges, arguing that as a ministry, his property was exempt from local building codes and permit requirements. This argument — consistent with his broader pattern of claiming that government regulations did not apply to his religious activities — failed in court.

Five-Year Legal Battle

What should have been a simple code enforcement matter dragged on for five years as Hovind fought the charges. During this period, the park continued to operate out of compliance with county building codes, creating an ongoing dispute with Escambia County officials.

In April 2006, county officials took action and shut down the Dinosaur Adventure Land buildings. The court found the property owners in contempt and imposed daily fines of $500 for any continued use of the non-compliant structures.

Resolution

On June 5, 2006, Kent Hovind entered a no contest plea to three counts:

Constructing a building without a permit
Refusing to sign a citation
Violating the county building code

He paid $675 in fines — a trivial amount that underscores how unnecessary the five-year fight had been. The required building permit would have cost $50.

Broader Pattern

The permit dispute illustrates a recurring theme in Hovind’s legal history: the belief that laws and regulations simply do not apply to him or his ministry. This same attitude — that his work is God’s and therefore beyond the reach of government authority — would later underpin his far more serious federal tax fraud case, which was already under IRS investigation while the permit battle played out. Just five months after his no contest plea on the permit charges, Hovind was convicted on 58 federal counts of tax fraud and related offenses.