9 Investigates

Seminole County manager to be fined

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates has obtained more than 50 pages of documents, detailing how the Seminole County manager plans to bring her property up to proper building code.

Reporter Karla Ray first exposed the additions made to Nicole Guillet’s home that were done without any permits.

9 Investigates learned Guillet will have to pay for the total amount of all permits she failed to pull and be fined the equivalent of the cost of the actual permits. That’s the same punishment any citizen would receive for failing to pull permits before building or adding onto a home.

Guillet has described the permitting problems as an "oversight."

The paperwork sent to county engineers for final approval shows revised plans, product approvals and septic clearance from the Seminole County Health Department. It’s all paperwork that should have been filed before upgrades were made to Guillet’s waterfront Geneva property.

We tried to ask Guillet about why the work to add a bedroom, a screen room and other upgrades to her property were done without permits after an anonymous complaint was filed against her in July. At that time, she walked away from us into her locked office area. %

INLINE

%

Though Guillet said she has hired someone to deal with the county on her behalf to bring her property into compliance. That will include calculating how much permits would have cost in the first place, if Guillet had gone through the process like every other contractor or builder who does work in Seminole County. Once that amount is calculated, it will be doubled as a fine for failing to do things right the first time.

Despite permits not being filed, the Seminole County property appraiser said Guillet’s addition was calculated into her assessed value and that she paid taxes on it.

It will take several days for the paperwork to be reviewed and for the total fines to be assessed.

Karla Ray

Karla Ray, WFTV.com

Karla Ray anchors Eyewitness News This Morning on Saturday and Sundays, and is an investigative reporter for the 9 Investigates unit.