Seminole County hits delays in tearing down 'nuisance home'

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - Seminole County is finally moving to demolish a nuisance house that’s racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in liens over the years. However, they’ve run into a problem that’s put the project on hold: asbestos.

The decision to take this property down wasn’t made lightly. The home has $220,000 in liens for code violations. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office was called out 166 times in about three years for different disturbances.

"It is, by definition, a nuisance," said one neighbor, Robert Lundquist, at a County Commission meeting. "It's been a nuisance to me and to our neighbors and to the small little community of Loch Arbor."

The County agreed and gave the property owners a May 9 deadline to rectify issues at the house. At the time, Seminole County Building Official Bob Pike was not optimistic about that timeline.

"That would take a monumental feat for that to happen," he said.

The property owners didn’t meet the deadline, so the County says the house is going down. Champion Services of Florida has a permit to demolish a 2700 square foot area, including the house, the pool, and deck. However, that’s on hold, because crews just found asbestos at the property that has to be removed before demolition can start.

The co-owner of the property just won his portion back in probate after his father passed away. 

"I know my grandmother and grandfather are rolling in their graves seeing what's going on there," co-owner Michael Baker II told FOX 35 News in April. He was not available to speak Thursday, but he told FOX 35 in April that he didn’t realize he was inheriting a mess. He also wouldn’t have realized the $27,000 demolition fee would be added to the bill he now shares for liens on the house. 

"I just don't want to see something my grandmother and grandfather worked their whole lives were destroyed for nothing," Baker II told FOX 35 in our last report.

FOX 35 News has remained in periodic contact with the other homeowner, Mary Baker. She has said in the past and reiterated on Thursday that she wants to sue the County if they demolish the house. She says she has also filed an ethics complaint against one of the County Commissioners because of this.