Unsafe buildings at Century Village near West Palm Beach continue to cause problems for the community’s manager as well as county building officials.
In an unusual move, the umbrella organization that oversees the common elements at Century Village, the United Civic Organization, wrote a letter to a county special magistrate complaining that enforcement orders are being ignored. The letter was dated Dec. 13 and signed by Donald Foster, the community’s manager under the United Civic Organization. The group also advises the 309 separate building associations that make up the sprawling community, which has nearly 8,000 units and more than 10,000 residents.
In August, a special magistrate ordered the Norwich B Association to repair an unsafe stairwell. In its letter to the special magistrate, the civic organization said the repair has not happened despite a five-day deadline given the association to address the issue. The special magistrate order was taken after Foster filed a complaint against the Norwich B building association for failing to do anything about the unsafe stairwell.
On Monday, Dec. 30, a contractor finally began working to make the stairwell repairs. The issue was first brought to the attention of county officials more than four years ago. The stairwell has been “red tagged,” and boards have been installed to prevent anyone from using the stairwell.
The Norwich B building was designed to have three staircases, according to the managing organization.
“To allow this Association to permanently maintain only two usable staircases presents a life-safety risk for all second floor residents, and particularly to the the residents living at the westernmost four units, closest to the blocked-off staircase,” Foster said in his letter to the special magistrate. “The purpose of this letter is to document the unsafe conditions that exist at Norwich B, which extend beyond the closed-off staircase.”
On July 25, the Building Division issued a Life Safety Violation Notice to the association for failing to fix the stairwell. Efforts to obtain comment from the Norwich B Association were unsuccessful.
Century Village is located off Okeechobee Boulevard near West Palm Beach in an unincorporated area of Palm Beach County. Like other areas of the county, its units have seen a significant increase in value. County officials, though, say there has been too much use of unlicensed contractors to do unpermitted work at the complex. Much of it has been done by investors.
Foster, in his reports to the community, noted that a Norwich B board member removed interior walls and installed recessed lighting without obtaining permits.
And a Somerset K owner removed a rear screen wall, causing damage to the concrete slab above the unit. The work was also done without obtaining a permit. A county building inspector posted a “STOP WORK” order but the unit owner still sends workers to this unit, according to reports from United Civic Organization. The association has begun legal action against the unit owner. Meanwhile, poles were installed to keep the second floor from collapsing.
Palm Beach County: More code enforcement may be needed at West Palm’s Century Village
Kevin Fischer, a spokesman for the county administration, said more secure measures have recently been taken at Norwich B to prevent someone from simply moving a rope to access the stairs. One problem, he said, is many Century Village residents are on fixed incomes and cannot afford to pay for the permanent repairs. He noted that the unsafe structure case is pending along with issues at two units that have also been found to be unsafe. They are unoccupied and will remain so until repairs are made, Fischer said.
As result of Foster’s letter, Fischer said that overall building conditions at Century Village are being reviewed. Foster’s reports to the community identified other safety issues that included:
The Post reported in May 2022 that Jorge Fernandes, a 12-year resident of Century Village, became homeless after he returned from a trip to Boston to discover that the floor in his second-story apartment had dropped 3 inches.
His neighbor below had hired an unlicensed contractor to remodel his kitchen and the work was done without a permit. The contractor removed a load-bearing wall, causing Fernandes’ floor above to become unstable — so much so that county building officials deemed both units uninhabitable and “red-tagged” them.
Fernandes was finally allowed to move back in to his upstairs unit in July after repairs were made. He has filed a lawsuit against the downstairs unit owner to recover four years of rental costs.
At one point, county officials were considering demolishing both units but eventually decided against it because of the impact on the other 22 units in the condo building.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues impacting homeowner associations. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County struggles to cope with unsafe buildings at West Palm’s Century Village
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
