Towns we cover
Panama City, FL
About 33,100 people (2020 Census). Building Services at 501 Harrison Ave takes pool permits online through Cloudpermit. The downtown tide gauge read 5.3 ft above normal high tide in Michael.
Panama City Beach, FL
About 18,100 people. The city runs its own building division on the Parkway, and in 2021 it pulled a pool permit mid-dig over a stormwater easement, so check your plat. Leon soil was first described here.
Lynn Haven, FL
About 18,700 people. The Building Department is at 817 Ohio Ave. A USDA soil series carries the city's name: wet, low-lying sand where water can sit at the surface for months.
Callaway, FL
About 13,100 people between Panama City and Tyndall. Michael's eye crossed it, with a 923 mb reading. The city directory routes building permits to its contracted permit office.
Upper Grand Lagoon, FL
About 15,800 people near the beach side of the bay. It's unincorporated, so pool permits go to Bay County Building Safety; lagoon-side lots may need flood-zone engineering.
Lower Grand Lagoon, FL
About 4,400 people on the peninsula toward St. Andrews State Park. County permits apply, and a survey showing flood zones goes in with the plans.
Laguna Beach, FL
About 4,300 people at the west end of the beach. Unincorporated; the Resota sand-ridge soil was first described a few miles east along US 98.
Southport, FL
An unincorporated community on the north shore off Highway 77, served by Bay County Building Safety. Larger lots here leave room for a deck and cage.
Parker, FL
About 4,000 people on the bay between Panama City and Tyndall AFB. A separate city, so ask city hall where the pool permit is filed.
Springfield, FL
About 8,100 people just east of downtown Panama City. Its own city government; confirm the permit office before you sign.
Mexico Beach, FL
About 900 people at the county's east edge, where Michael landed: 809 of its buildings were destroyed. Expect strict flood-zone and wind engineering on any new pool.