Three more buildings at a Pembroke Pines condominium complex have been ordered evacuated after they were deemed unsafe, following the earlier evacuation of three other buildings at the same development.
The evacuations were ordered after the City of Pembroke Pines received an preliminary report Friday from an engineering firm that found significaant concerns in three buildings at the Heron Pond Condominiums on Southwest 83rd Way.
The city announced Saturday that they posted a 10-day evacuation notice to residents of buildings 5, 14, and 16.
"The City understands residents and renters of units at these specific buildings will be impacted by this public safety action and encourage all to address the situation directly with their land lord/owner," the city said in its announcement.
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The notice follows the evacuations of buildings 2, 3, and 10, which were completed on Aug. 28, after the structures were found to be in violation of state building and fire prevention codes, the city said.
"To date, the City has not received any permits for repairs on any buildings in the Heron Pond Community. The City has given the condominium owners of these specific buildings ample time and opportunity to come into compliance with the City's requested corrective measures to ensure the life, health and safety of the Heron Pond residential community," the city said in a statement. "Minimal, unsatisfactory actions have been taken by the unit owners to address the life, health and safety issues expressed by the City of Pembroke Pines and cited under Florida’s Building and Fire regulations."
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Posted notices showed that the balconies in all 19 of the buildings at the community were shut down on Jan. 19. In July, Pembroke Pines Police posted a letter saying all 19 buildings showed "signs of structural deterioration and potential unsafe conditions."
The property manager told NBC6 last month that they have been trying to repair the balconies since April.
Ben Solomon, an attorney representing the buildings' condo association, told NBC6 last month that the condos' age was a major factor.
“It’s an unfortunate situation, this is an older condo,” Solomon said. “The product is decades old. It was a wood construction project so it’s much more susceptible to termites, water damage and other casualties. The association maintains the property but these things have caught up."
Solomon said that the engineer it hired said the buildings are safe, and said 2021 condo collapse in Surfside that left 98 people dead led to the city’s decision to vacate the Heron Pond buildings.
"A lot of these issues have been around for a long time but they are at the height of everyone’s focus now, and Heron Pond is one of the victims,” Solomon said.
Solomon predicted that more people will be in this situation because of the new laws going into effect from Surfside. His advice was to make repairs now in order to avoid this situation.
