Demolition permits in St. Lucie County

Only three places in the county are incorporated. Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Village issue their own permits, and the county's permitting page says it handles unincorporated land only. That covers Lakewood Park, River Park, White City and the St. Lucie portion of Hutchinson Island, among others.

Unincorporated permits come from the Building and Code Regulations Division of the county's Planning and Development Services department, through its online EnerGov portal. The county's building FAQ quotes Florida Building Code section 102.2, which applies the code to the removal and demolition of every public and private building or structure, and notes that a permit taken out after the fact costs double.

Asbestos notices for St. Lucie County go to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Southeast District. The department's guidance is that all demolitions require notice, including those where no asbestos is present, and that it has to be on file by the tenth working day before demolition starts. A local building permit does not satisfy it.

The county keeps its own Asbestos Notification form, which points the contractor to section 469.003 of the Florida Statutes and to the state notice. Port St. Lucie asks the owner to initial an asbestos notification statement and wants a full report only where asbestos was found. Fort Pierce requires an asbestos report for commercial buildings built before 1972 and homes built before 1980.

Removal of any asbestos in the way of the work is done by a licensed abatement firm before demolition. Romco books the survey and schedules the abatement contractor, and neither task is performed by our own crews.

Port St. Lucie's demolition checklist, revised in September 2025, asks for letters from FPL and from the city's Utilities Department showing service has been removed, along with the asbestos statement. Owners acting as their own contractor add a recorded deed or property card and an affidavit.

Fort Pierce's checklist asks for pre-approval from its Planning Department, from the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority or FPL for a full demolition, and from Engineering on commercial jobs. It also requires a debris affidavit and plans showing the work area for partial or interior demolition.

St. Lucie Village has its own building official and a general building permit application rather than a demolition-specific form. The county has not published a demolition checklist, so the item list for unincorporated land should be confirmed with the division before filing.

On the county's building permit application, work valued at 5,000 dollars or more needs a recorded Notice of Commencement, filed in the county's public records and posted on the job site before the first inspection. Port St. Lucie applies the same threshold and asks for the recorded notice to be uploaded to its portal before an inspection is requested.

Many St. Lucie homes are on septic. Under Rule 62-6.011 of the Florida Administrative Code, now administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, a tank that goes out of use has to be properly abandoned. On North Hutchinson Island, connection to central sewer is mandatory once an owner is notified, and the tanks must be abandoned.

Port St. Lucie's tree ordinance, adopted in 2011, protects trees 12 inches or more in diameter at breast height and native palms with at least 10 feet of clear trunk, with permits issued by Planning and Zoning. Platted single-family lots are exempt.

The state's Coastal Construction Control Line for St. Lucie County, set by Rule 62B-26.021, runs from the Indian River County line to Fort Pierce Inlet, and from the south side of the inlet to the Martin County line. Building, digging or altering land on the ocean side of that line calls for a separate state DEP permit, subject to the rule's exemptions.

Sea turtle nesting season on St. Lucie beaches runs from March 1 to November 15, and exterior lights visible from the beach must be shielded, redirected or switched off from sunset to sunrise. Oceanfront work is planned around both.

Fort Pierce can declare a building unsafe and order it demolished; if the owner does not act, the city demolishes it and records a lien for the cost, with 30 days to appeal to circuit court. In the unincorporated county, the Code Enforcement Board can refer a property to the County Commission, which can order demolition.

The county's flood rules treat damage or improvement equal to or above 50 percent of market value as substantial, and count improvements cumulatively over the life of the building. A substantial project must meet new-construction flood standards. Permits marked as disaster-related get expedited review after a storm.

St. Lucie is outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, but wind loads still shape the rebuild. Fort Pierce, for example, sets a design wind speed of 150 mph for ordinary buildings west of 25th Street and 160 mph east of it, barrier island included.