Magistrate gives owner until May 13 to demolish or permit unpermitted accessory dwelling at 2804 Glassner Ave.

The City of Palm Bay special magistrate on Feb. 12 set a compliance date of May 13, 2025, and a $50-per-day fine if the owner fails to demolish or properly permit an accessory structure at 2804 Glassner Avenue NE that city staff say was being used as living quarters without a permit.

The magistrate’s order followed testimony from Kevin Costa, a building code compliance inspector, and the property owner, Michael Perry of Michael Perry and Associates LLC. Costa told the hearing the structure on the property lacked a permit and “was being used as an accessory dwelling structure,” and that the city was asking that it be demolished. Perry said the owner had applied for and received a demolition permit on Jan. 30, 2025, that expires July 30, 2025. “We have obtained a demolition permit, which was dated on January 30 of this year, and it expires on the July 30 of this year,” Perry said.

John Pearson, the city’s chief building official, described the alternatives available to the owner. Pearson said the owner could apply for a new permit to legalize the unit as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), but that would require zoning review, payment of unpaid impact fees and an engineer’s letter to prove the existing construction meets the Florida Building Code. “There are several factors that are involved with an ADU, including the zoning requirements,” Pearson said. “They would require an engineer’s letter if they decided to go through that.”

Perry said he and his partners preferred demolition because applying for an ADU would be expensive and slow; he also said people had lived in the structure since the owner bought the property. At the hearing Perry described an engineer’s report estimate of about $2,700 to provide the documentation the city would need to consider permitting the structure.

Magistrate comments stressed public-safety risk because the unit never had a certificate of occupancy. The magistrate said the court’s authority was limited to setting compliance deadlines, fines and extensions, and determined a three-month compliance window was appropriate; the magistrate told staff to verify that utilities had been disconnected and that no one remained living in the unit before the demolition permit timeline was extended. The magistrate set the compliance date at May 13, 2025, with a $50-per-day fine after that date if the property is not brought into compliance.

The city said it would verify whether power and plumbing were disconnected as part of its oversight. The owner said residents had removed most personal property and that no one was living in the unit at the hearing. The owner may either proceed with demolition under the existing permit or pursue the ADU permit process at his own expense; the magistrate’s order does not require the city to approve an ADU, only that the owner either obtain lawful permits or remove the structure by the deadline.