North Miami Beach officials announced a condo has been evacuated because it was deemed “structurally and electrically unsafe” as the Surfside building collapse remains uninhabitable.
The North Miami Beach Building and Zoning Department ordered the closure of the Crestview Towers Condominium building on July 2. On Thursday, officials announced residents are still not allowed back in the building because city officials rejected the condo association’s 40-year recertification report.
HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE SO FAR
“I can’t stress this enough: this is a very serious situation,” said North Miami Beach City Manager Arthur H. Sorey III in a statement. “We understand this has been extremely difficult for the residents who have been displaced, but the City has a legal and moral obligation to ensure their home is safe.
The city rejected the reports from the association provided to officials on Tuesday “because they did not comply with the recertification process. More importantly, they did not address the problems raised in the condo’s original 40-year recertification dated Jan. 11,” Sorey said at a press conference.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue also submitted a copy of the current notice of violation, which lays out 18 pending code violations.
The local police department also began investigating current and previous association boards after multiple people came forward and filed complaints alleging financial mismanagement.
“We take allegations of fraudulent activity very seriously,” said North Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Rand in a statement. “We are at the very beginning of this investigation, but we will get to the bottom of this and get North Miami Beach residents the answers they deserve.”
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The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust has arranged temporary housing for 55 individuals, and building residents will be given an opportunity on Friday to retrieve personal belongings.
In the days after the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South last month, which left at least 60 dead and another 80 missing, authorities ordered a review of all condominium high-rise buildings five stories or higher to determine if they comply with the county and city’s 40-year recertification process.
