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Structural issues lead to new inspection regulations

Structural issues lead to new inspection regulations

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – City staff members are planning to present a proposed ordinance setting building inspection regulations to help identify structural issues before they become a hazardous situation.

Director of Development Services Eran Wasserman spoke to commissioners about the process for developing the proposed building inspection regulations during an Aug. 10 work session. Wasserman said he’s working with Building Official Neal Schwartz to create an ordinance to present to commissioners in the next 30 days outlining which structures will need to be inspected, how those inspections will need to be conducted and by whom and how often inspections need to be scheduled to recertify a property as safe.

The documents being used to help draft those standards are the ones required by Miami-Dade County, though Wasserman said the plan is to have stricter reinspection standards in Holmes Beach, including less time between inspections.

Commissioner Jim Kihm said he’s spoken to Schwartz, who’s talking with building officials from Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key while drafting proposed standards for Holmes Beach.

Another consideration when deciding what regulations commissioners will want to enact in the city, Kihm said, would be what fees will need to be charged for the building recertification, if the city will require a third-party inspection before certification can be granted and what the penalty for noncompliance will be.

While the primary focus of the regulations would be multi-family structures, in light of a recent balcony collapse on a single-family structure, commissioners said they’d like to consider requiring anyone with a raised balcony to have their property inspected for structural issues on a regular schedule.

Raised balconies have recently been an issue in Holmes Beach. In recent months, a balcony on the rear of one of the Fountain Head Condominiums buildings, the north building at 3400 Sixth Ave., was reported by a repairman to have cracks in the stucco. In addition, a balcony recently collapsed at a single-family home at 4106 Sixth Ave. No one was injured at either property and both problems have been assessed by independent structural engineers.

The Fountain Head’s sister building at 3402 Sixth Ave., the south building, hasn’t had any reported issues with the structure or balconies, though Schwartz said the condominium association is planning to have it inspected as well to avoid any safety problems. He added that the north building’s balconies will have to be removed and rebuilt for the structure to be deemed safe. The units were built in 1984, according to Manatee County Property Appraiser records. They were used primarily as vacation rentals and were voluntarily evacuated on July 15.

The home at 4106 Sixth Ave. also has been voluntarily evacuated, Schwartz said, and permits have been issued for repairs, which include the rebuilding and shoring up of all balconies on the structure. That home is a part of the Holmes Beach Land Condos/6th Avenue Condominium Association Inc., along with five other structures on Fifth and Sixth Avenues built in 2002 and 2003 by 6th Avenue Development Inc. That company lists Ian K. Perryman as president and was dissolved on March 28, 2007. Holmes Beach building department records show that the builder of the properties in the 6th Avenue Condominium Association was Don Meilner & Son Construction Inc., which was officially dissolved in February 2021.

Schwartz said a letter was being distributed to the owners of all of the properties in the group to inform them of the balcony issues at the one property. The structural engineer’s report on the balcony collapse showed that it was caused by a property maintenance issue and not due to substandard construction methods. Schwartz said the letter was being distributed to put property owners on the alert for any possible issues.

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City warns property owners of potential structural issues

City warns property owners to inspect structures

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – After a balcony fell off a building and residents were evacuated at a nearby condo due to balcony problems, city leaders are warning property owners to be on the alert for structural issues that could cause personal injury or death.

The Sun made a public records request for the identity of the builders and other construction information on the single-family residence and the Fountain Head condominium on Sixth Avenue, which also has a sister building, but city staff delivered only permit records for pools and air conditioning units, which are available on the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website.

Building Official Neal Schwartz said he was surprised that there were no other records on the properties, and that since he came to the city two years ago, he’s focused on keeping complete and accurate records in the building department. With the addition of an electronic method of submitting and approving documents for permits, Schwartz said the process of maintaining records has become easier and less susceptible to loss, unlike documents that were submitted on paper and stored either in paper files or on microfiche in the past.

After the condo at 3400 Sixth Ave. was found to have potential structural issues with the balconies on the back of the building, the owners of the units in the sister building were warned of potential issues. Now the city’s building department and code compliance staff are also sending letters of warning to owners of structures similar to the home at 4106 Sixth Ave., where a rear balcony collapsed in late June.

In the letter to property owners, Schwartz said the city is detailing the issues found at the home and suggesting that the work originally performed on the balconies of the damaged structure was likely performed by the same contractor as the other matching structures on Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The letter goes on to warn property owners of the potential for issues with the balconies and to encourage them to be alert to any problems.

The affected properties are 4105 Fifth Ave., 4107 Fifth Ave., 4104 Sixth Ave., 4108 Sixth Ave. and 4110 Sixth Ave.

Schwartz said that the property owner at 4106 Sixth Ave., Virginia Stewart, according to Manatee County Property Appraiser records, has voluntarily evacuated the property and her insurance company has engaged a structural engineer who inspected all of the balconies on the home and reported that the damage was most likely caused by lack of maintenance. The report also states that all of the balconies on that home, which was built in 2002, are unsafe and need to be replaced before the property can be cleared for occupation. Schwartz said the process is underway and permits have been issued for the repairs.

Schwartz said the letters to property owners were not sent out immediately due to the finding that the collapsed balcony was primarily caused by lack of maintenance rather than a problem with the initial construction.

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Balcony collapses in Holmes Beach

Balcony collapses in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

UPDATED JULY 4, 2021 AT 12:24 p.m. – HOLMES BEACH – A balcony fell off a resident’s home last week, causing no injuries but plenty of concern among city leaders about the quality of construction of similar buildings.

While completing a vacation rental inspection at a property on June 28, Code Compliance Officer James Thomas said he stepped out of the back of the house and noticed something strange – the second-floor balcony of a neighboring home had collapsed.

Thomas said he went to the home at 4106 Sixth Ave. to investigate but was denied admittance by the homeowner, Virginia Stewart. Fearing for the safety of the structure’s occupants, Thomas called the Holmes Beach Police Department and West Manatee Fire Rescue for reinforcements.

Balcony collapses in Holmes Beach
Holmes Beach Code Compliance Officer James Thomas posts a notice in front of a home with structural issues on Sixth Avenue. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Police officers and Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski gained him entrance to the home where they were joined by Building Official Neal Schwartz to inspect the damage to the home.

A section of a second-floor balcony overlooking the backyard pool area had collapsed, raining debris down on the pool area including large sections of a concrete railing, which damaged the pool pavers below, along with wood and stucco pieces. Thomas said the balcony itself seemed to be a wooden structure on the back of the house that had been coated in stucco, collapsing due to structural issues.

The property owner was advised of the international property maintenance code violations at the home and that the structure was deemed unsafe for human occupancy, meaning that anyone staying at the property is doing so at their own peril. Stewart was given a copy of the notice of violation on July 1 by Thomas. He said she’s willing to work with the city’s building department to correct the issues on the property. However, if Stewart doesn’t have the structural issues addressed promptly, Thomas said she could face a hearing with the city’s special magistrate to force the issue. Thomas said his goal is compliance and to help make the property safe for the owner to live there, not to take her to a hearing.

The owner of this home in Holmes Beach will have to get the structural issues at the property fixed or face a special magistrate hearing. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Of continuing concern to the city is not only the property at 4106 Sixth Ave., but also the ones surrounding it.

Stewart’s home was built in 2002 and is now known to have structural issues. Thomas said there are several more matching homes in the same area, all built by the same builder around the same time as Stewart’s, which could all have the same problems and pose a potential safety hazard to the public. Many of those homes, he added, are currently used as vacation rental properties, making the potential for an accident worse.

The name of the builder was not confirmed by city staff, and Manatee County Property Appraiser records for the property did not state the identity of the builder or their company. The Sun has made a public records request for the property records from the city of Holmes Beach and will update this story as more information becomes available.

After the June 24 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, leaving a known 22 people dead and 128 unaccounted for as of July 3, Holmes Beach city leaders are looking into ways to inspect aging buildings in the Island city to prevent the same kind of tragedy from happening in their neighborhoods. Though Holmes Beach doesn’t have any buildings as large as the 12-story structure in Surfside, there are several aging multi-story buildings in the city, including two seven-story condominiums at Martinique (see related story).

With the partial collapse of a balcony at a home built less than 20 years ago, Thomas said city leaders aren’t taking chances with the safety of residents and visitors.

Working with the city’s building department, he said all of the homes built in the same manner as Stewart’s house will be at least visually inspected by city staff if staff members are not allowed on the property by the homeowners. If allowed on the property, a more thorough safety inspection can be conducted.

During a July 1 special meeting, Commissioner Terry Schaefer said that following the building collapse in Surfside, he had spoken with Schwartz about the structural status of buildings and homes in Holmes Beach. Schaefer said Schwartz is looking into what can be done to inspect and evaluate buildings in the city to address any potential structural issues before they endanger the public.

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