|
Article
Courtesy of Channel 10 Tampa Bay WTSP
By
Aaron Parseghian
Published May 17, 2025
|
WATCH VIDEO |
CLEARWATER — A large crack in a support column forced the
evacuation of a 12-story condo building in Clearwater, putting Florida’s
ongoing condo safety overhaul back into the spotlight.
Crews have now installed temporary support structures on every floor of the
building while residents remain displaced until engineers complete a full
safety inspection.
|
The damage was
uncovered Tuesday as crews worked on the building’s parking
garage, repairs triggered by a recent “milestone
inspection,” required to have been done by the end of 2024
for buildings 3+ stories and 30 years or older (25 years and
up if near the coast).
That inspection, conducted in September, rated the building
in “good condition,” but flagged deterioration in a portion
of the garage slab. While addressing that issue, workers
discovered the more serious crack in a structural column,
prompting an emergency response.
“We have a compromised structure, a support beam of this
magnitude,” Javon Graham, Clearwater’s emergency management
division chief, said. “You have to think about a possible
collapse.” |
|
|
The scare highlights the delicate balance Florida
lawmakers are working to meet, making sure condo owners are safe in their
buildings, but can also financially afford to stay there.
In the aftermath of the 2021 Surfside condo collapse that killed 98 people,
Florida enacted sweeping changes to condo safety regulations. Aside from
mandated inspections, condo associations are also required to maintain more
robust financial reserves for future repairs and maintenance.
However, over the past couple of years, the changes have caused steep cost
increases for condo owners and associations looking to make up ground for
unfunded reserves and/or crucial repairs.
“We have seen sudden, high-cost fee assessments that have been imposed on
condo owners,” Governor Ron DeSantis noted in calls for an update to the law
earlier this year.
Faced with rising concern from residents across the state, lawmakers
recently approved reforms aimed at easing the financial pinch. The changes
would allow associations to take out loans or lines of credit to fund
reserves and also extend the deadline for completing certain structural
integrity studies.
“With each milestone inspection, our condos are becoming safer,” State Sen.
Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) said. “But financial impacts are
reverberating. Our commitment remains steadfast to assist condo owners who
have absorbed a tremendous amount of change.”
“Folks are hurting financially. They are up against making decisions of
whether or not they are going to leave the dream called Florida. Many of
them are on our coastlines, where it is paradise. Safety is also at the
forefront of this issue. It is so incredibly difficult to balance that,”
State Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Indian Rocks Beach) said.
DeSantis has not yet signed the bill, but if he does, it will take effect
July 1.
|
