Owner on the phone: buyer has signed offer to demolish dilapidated home at 9407 Indian Bluff Road

Bay County code enforcement on Thursday told Special Magistrate Tiffany Sarto that the single-family home at 9407 Indian Bluff Road is dilapidated, has been repeatedly vandalized and remains unsecured after tornado and storm damage.

Investigator Raymond Scott and building inspector Scott Thorpe described collapsed ceilings, broken windows, missing garage doors, open water-damaged interiors and evidence of transient activity. Scott reviewed inspections dating to January 11, 2024, and said the property remained in violation through re-inspections into January and February 2025. No building or demolition permits had been pulled as of the hearing.

Property owner Kelly Dyer participated by phone. Dyer said the house had been through a contentious probate and a violent divorce, that she "can't afford to get it fixed," and that she had a fully signed, written purchase offer received the day before the hearing. Dyer agreed to have her realtor send the purchase agreement to code enforcement by email; the magistrate provided the code enforcement email address on the record.

Code enforcement recommended the magistrate set a 30-day compliance period to remove junk and overgrowth and to require either demolition (with a demolition permit) or a full building-permit remediation plan prepared by a Florida-licensed design professional. The magistrate said she would accept the 30-day recommendation but add an allowance to extend the period to accommodate the buyer's closing schedule if the owner submits the purchase documents to code enforcement. The magistrate also urged securing or taping closed appliances that remain on the property because they can pose an attractive-nuisance hazard to neighborhood children.

The magistrate advised Dyer that the compliance order would be recorded with the property and that the buyer should be made aware of the pending hearing on March 20, 2025, at 1 p.m.