condo association - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T18:47:28Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/condo+associationSouth Palm Beach: Dune Deck condo sea wall repairs may have to wait until fallhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-dune-deck-condo-sea-wall-repairs-may-have-to-wai2022-03-30T14:58:16.000Z2022-03-30T14:58:16.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249042853,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249042853,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10249042853?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong><em>A hand-size hole in the parking garage. Photo provided</em></p>
<p><strong>By Joe Capozzi</strong></p>
<p>A South Palm Beach condo has been cited for code violations related to an eroding sea wall, including holes that allow ocean water to spray into the ground-floor parking garage during rough seas, town records show.<br /> The homeowners association of the Dune Deck, a six-story condo built in 1980 at 3610 S. Ocean Blvd., had been told by private engineers since at least 2018 that the sea wall is in need of repair, a resident said in an email March 5 to the town manager. <br /> “Because of their negligence to take action, the continuous deterioration is now at the point of being a safety hazard putting the building and its occupants at risk,’’ the resident, Leslie Yellin, said. “Parts of the wall have started to crumble, created holes that allow seawater to spray inside during rough seas.’’<br /> Town code officials confirmed the resident’s concerns a few days later on a visit to the garage. One photograph shows a hole roughly the size of a hand. Dune Deck officials have hired an engineer and contractor to make the repairs, but the work can’t start until this fall after the end of sea turtle nesting season, Alan Haenel, president of the Dune Deck’s board of directors, said at a special magistrate’s hearing March 17. <br /> Special Magistrate Amity Barnard gave the Dune Deck one month to send the town a letter from the Department of Environmental Protection confirming that no work can be done until Oct. 31, the end of nesting season.<br /> “Because it has been determined to be structurally unsafe, I want something from DEP saying that even though it has been deemed structurally unsafe that you’re still not permitted to do the work,’’ Town Attorney Aleksandr Boksner told Dune Deck officials.<br /> In remarks to the magistrate, Haenel suggested the failure to make the repairs sooner was the fault of a previous condo board. <br /> “This board is going to be very proactive on the building and maintenance as well, so we never have to appear here again. But we do acknowledge there is a problem,’’ he said. <br /> In an interview after the meeting, Haenel said he personally has watched sea turtles hatch on the beach immediately outside the sea wall, which is why he’s confident the DEP will not allow the work to start until this fall. <br /> He also said the condo engineers have assured him that residents in the building are not in danger.<br /> <strong>In other town business: </strong><br /> • On March 15, the Town Council approved on first reading a new ordinance aimed at protecting pedestrians on sidewalks and other walkways that are temporarily blocked by construction vehicles. <br /> Companies whose work will obstruct walkways will each be required to obtain a permit. The permit will be issued on the condition that companies hire an off-duty law enforcement officer or certified flagman to keep pedestrians safe from nearby vehicular traffic. <br /> Penalties for violating the ordinance are $250 for the first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. <br /> Council member Bill LeRoy proposed the measure because of safety concerns when pedestrians are forced to walk along the shoulder of State Road A1A. <br /> • Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy David Hull, who patrols South Palm Beach, was recognized for being named the town’s 2021 Deputy of the Year. </p></div>Highland Beach: Commission tentatively approves ordinance for condo inspectionshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-commission-tentatively-approves-ordinance-for-cond2021-09-29T15:06:36.000Z2021-09-29T15:06:36.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related Stories: With condo owners on edge, <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-with-condo-owners-on-edge-insurers-take-new-look-" target="_blank">insurers take a new look</a> at risks, rates | Boca Raton first in county to set standards for <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-boca-first-in-county-to-set-standards-for-building-saf" target="_blank">building safety reviews</a> </strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong></p>
<p>With the June collapse of Surfside’s 12-story Champlain Towers South condo still on their minds, Highland Beach town commissioners gave tentative approval in September to an ordinance requiring regularly scheduled structural and electrical inspections for most of the town’s more than 80 condos. <br /> “For us, we have enough condos over 40 years old to warrant attention,” Commissioner John Shoemaker said. “It’s not a threat today, but it’s enough of a concern for us to implement a recertification process to ensure the safety of our people and property.” <br /> Under the proposed ordinance, buildings in the town that are more than three stories or 50 feet in height will be required to have a recertification inspection when the building reaches 25 years old. For buildings under 40 years old those inspections will be required every 10 years. For the 45 buildings over 40 years old, inspections will be required every seven years. <br /> The Highland Beach ordinance will require inspections to be performed by “a professional structural engineer … qualified by training and experience as a certified special inspector of threshold building certifying and attesting that each such building is structurally safe, or setting forth structural deficiencies identified and any repairs or alterations necessary to make the building structurally safe.”<br /> The ordinance would also require that buildings be inspected by an electrical engineer who looks for any issues affecting the safety of residents. <br /> During discussions following the Champlain Towers collapse, Highland Beach leaders made it clear that the town’s role will be limited mostly to administering the ordinance and ensuring that its provisions will be followed. <br /> Highland Beach personnel will not conduct inspections, nor will they arrange for inspections of individual buildings. That responsibility will fall on the shoulders of each building’s leadership. <br /> The town’s building department, however, will be responsible for reviewing all of the inspections and will be charged with making sure corrections to any deficiencies are made within a required amount of time. <br /> Condo associations will have a year to fix any deficiencies, beginning at the time they are notified of need for an inspection, but will also be required to make any serious corrections under a time frame identified by an inspector.<br /> One of the challenges Highland Beach faced is determining the extent of the town’s role in ensuring the structural integrity of buildings while not overstepping individual homeowner rights. <br /> “The town has responsibility to ensure the collective safety and health of the community but doing so can’t strip everyone of private property rights and responsibilities,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. <br /> While Highland Beach commissioners recognize that state restrictions could be coming down the road, they have said all along that the town needs its own ordinance, tailored to its geography. <br /> “Especially on a barrier island, with our buildings taking punishment from the weather, we need this kind of oversight,” Shoemaker said. <br /> During a September meeting, the Building Code Advisory Board of Palm Beach County agreed to send proposed building code amendments brought by the Palm Beach County League of Cities to the County Commission for consideration. <br /> The amendment would require inspections for larger buildings east of Interstate 95 every 25 years and inspections of buildings west of the interstate every 35 years. The recommendation, however, includes flexibility for municipalities, which can incorporate the restrictions into their codes either fully or partially. While elected officials are working out details, some Highland Beach condo associations are moving forward in anticipation of regulations. <br /> At Highlands Place, a 12-story, 45-unit condominium built in 1989, condo board President David Stern says he has already made contact with a structural engineer and asked to be placed on a list for inspection once local regulations are approved. <br /> Stern, whose oceanfront building underwent a million-dollar-plus concrete restoration and painting project about three years ago, says he believes a town ordinance requiring inspections is beneficial.<br /> “I feel very comfortable that we’re in very good shape,” he said. “We had engineers go through the whole building and we did exactly what they asked for.” <br /> Still, he says, having an additional inspection isn’t a negative because it can identify small problems before they become big problems and it can help eliminate surprises. <br /> Stern also believes that unit owners benefit by having inspections. <br /> “It helps the property values, it helps everything, when you can say we’ve been inspected and confirmed we’re in good shape,” he said. <br /> A short distance down the road, at the 51-year-old Penthouse Highlands condominium, association President P.T. Henry is also confident that an inspection won’t turn up any major issues. At the same time, he too is in favor of town-mandated recertification. <br /> Henry said his association, like Stern’s, did a concrete restoration project just a few years ago and put a priority on maintaining the property.<br /> “I don’t think we have a problem,” he said, “but it makes sense to assure ourselves that we don’t have issues. Why would we not want to bring experts in to confirm that?”</p></div>