Bay County magistrate orders repairs, deadlines in multiple code‑enforcement hearings

A Bay County special magistrate on Wednesday, Jan. 8, ordered multiple property owners in unincorporated Panama City Beach to submit repair plans and obtain permits within set deadlines or face civil fines and possible abatement by the county.

Special Magistrate Tiffany Sarto opened a series of public hearings on code‑enforcement cases and accepted code enforcement staff recommendations in each matter. The magistrate set compliance deadlines, authorized staff to require structural plans or abate nuisances where the owner failed to comply, and in one case allowed an immediate demolition permit to clear hazardous debris.

Those affected included: the unit at 4823 Hispaniola Street Unit C (case 2024‑2981), a multiunit property at 404 Bayshore Drive (case noted in the record as CE‑20241106), a residential lot at 8561 Fremont Road (case 23‑0259), a residence at 209 El Wiposa Place (case 2024‑1820), multiple mobile‑home units at Sherman Pines Mobile Home Park (cases CE2023035 and CE20230471), and other properties in the Panama City Beach area.

The magistrate’s orders generally required owners to submit a detailed action plan with time frames, obtain all required building permits from the Bay County Building Services Division, complete permit inspections, and notify code enforcement of progress. Where staff found no progress by the listed deadlines, the orders impose an initial fine of $200 and a continuing $25 daily fine until the violation is corrected; the fines can be recorded as liens on affected property.

At the hearin…