Monroe County
Demolition in the Keys, key by key
Monroe County is a chain of islands with one highway. The permit office, the flood zone, the habitat rules and the housing change from one key to the next. Here is what matters on each.
- Key WestIn Key West, the question for an old building is often not how to take it down but whether the city will let you. Old Town sits under a historic commission, and a demolition there is judged against a test that a worn-out house does not automatically pass.Demolition in Key West →
- Stock IslandStock Island is where Key West keeps its boats and its workers. A demolition here may be a shed at a boatyard or a worn cottage near a marina, and the first job is to find out which side of the city line the parcel falls on.Demolition in Stock Island →
- MarathonMarathon is where Hurricane Irma took out whole trailer communities, and demolition here still has that stamp. The city has its own building department, its own portal and an asbestos affidavit that must be signed and notarized before demolition or renovation work.Demolition in Marathon →
- IslamoradaThe Labor Day hurricane of 1935 destroyed almost every building in the Matecumbes, so a good share of what stands in Islamorada was built after it. That makes the age of a building here a real question, and the answer sits in the permit record.Demolition in Islamorada →
- Key LargoKey Largo is the first key you reach from the mainland and the longest, so a demolition here has the shortest haul in the county and still ends in the same landfill problem. Parcels outside Ocean Reef are permitted by the county's Upper Keys office.Demolition in Key Largo →
- Ocean ReefOcean Reef is the gated community at the far north of Key Largo, and Monroe County treats it separately: it has its own county permitting office and a set of site-specific development standards, deviations and exemptions written into the county's code.Demolition in Ocean Reef →
- TavernierTavernier sits at about mile marker 91, between Key Largo and Islamorada, and has no city government. Permits come from the county. The franchise hauler named for Tavernier and Key Largo to the county line is Keys Sanitary Services, and that sets the local haul.Demolition in Tavernier →
- Duck KeyDuck Key is a community of a few hundred residents built around a resort, with Conch Key counted in the same census area. It is unincorporated, so the county, not a city, permits a demolition on either island.Demolition in Duck Key →
- Key Colony BeachKey Colony Beach is a small city beside Marathon with its own building official and its own city commission, and a permit denial there can be appealed to that commission. It is not Marathon and it is not the county, so check which office holds the lot.Demolition in Key Colony Beach →
- Big Pine KeyBy the county's early count, Big Pine Key lost more homes to Hurricane Irma than any other key, and it is also where the Key deer live. A demolition or clearing job here can bring a wildlife review that only Big Pine Key and neighboring No Name Key share.Demolition in Big Pine Key →
- Cudjoe KeyCudjoe Key issues no building permits of its own, so the county does. It is also where the county's Lower Keys transfer station sits, at about mile marker 21.5 on Blimp Road, which gives a Cudjoe Key job a different haul story from Key West.Demolition in Cudjoe Key →
- Summerland KeyA federal survey of Summerland Key after Hurricane Irma documented waves and surge overtopping the seawalls in front of homes and moving sand both landward and seaward. Owners here know that a seawall protects a house until it does not.Demolition in Summerland Key →
- Ramrod KeyReports from the Lower Keys after Hurricane Irma singled out Ramrod Key for some of the most extensive damage. Many lots here have a damaged building that the owner has been deciding what to do about, and that decision usually comes down to the repair-cost test.Demolition in Ramrod Key →
- Big Coppitt KeyBig Coppitt Key is the gateway to Geiger Key, and it connects by railroad fill to Shark Key, a private gated community developed in the 1980s. A demolition in Big Coppitt can mean an ordinary canal lot, or a lot behind a gate with its own rules.Demolition in Big Coppitt Key →
Questions
Good to know in Monroe
Do I need a permit to demolish a building in the Keys?
Almost always, for anything structural. Which office issues it depends on the key. Key West, Marathon, Islamorada and Key Colony Beach run their own building departments, and Monroe County handles most of the rest. Once you hire Romco, the application is ours to assemble and file, and so is the inspection calendar up to the final sign-off. Check what your parcel's office requires, because lists differ.
Which parts of Monroe County do you work in?
The whole county, from Key Largo and Ocean Reef south through Islamorada, Marathon and the Lower Keys to Key West and Stock Island. Our headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale. Every office keeps its own checklist, and we follow the one that applies to your parcel.
Any type, any size, anywhere in the Keys
Tell us where it is and what has to come down. We will price it.
Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. From a single wall to a full building, you receive a written scope and a quote.