© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Boca Raton Takes First Steps To Make Building Inspection Requirements Stricter

Available to individuals that have experienced financial hardships caused by COVID-19, the city of Boca Raton is offering residents housing assistance.
(Courtesy/Boca Raton City Hall)
/
The South Florida Sun Sentinel
Available to individuals that have experienced financial hardships caused by COVID-19, the city of Boca Raton is offering residents housing assistance.

Boca Raton could be the first city in Palm Beach County to implement an update to its city ordinances on building safety, following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside.

City leaders proposed an ordinance Tuesday that would create a more stringent recertification process and a tighter timeline than the ones used in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

“I thought in the wake of the tragedy that a lot of jurisdictions would be looking to implement more stringent regulations,” said Mayor Scott Singer in an interview with WLRN. “If it turns out we're the first, that's fine. What we hope is that we will continue to work with other cities and counties to develop best practices, and our efforts may actually provide a guidepost for other cities.”

WLRN is committed to providing the trusted news and local reporting you rely on. Please keep WLRN strong with your support today. Donate now. Thank you.

During a workshop Monday, Brandon Schaad, director of development services for Boca Raton, said the city ordinance will require any building that is 30 years old to submit a recertification inspection report by a structural and electrical engineer every 10 years.

Miami-Dade and Broward have a 40-year timeline.

“We will be prioritizing the buildings based on age, location, construction materials occupancy load — which [is], how many people is the building designed to have in it — and the function of the building,” said Schaad. “For example, a hospital might be higher up on the priority list.”

Singer said Boca Raton’s ordinance would address “threshold buildings,” a standard set for the state of Florida which includes buildings either buildings of three stories or more, or 50 feet or higher.” That also includes buildings that are more than 5,000 square feet with an occupancy of more than 500 people.

The city council is also placing greater emphasis on inspection transparency.

“What's critical about this ordinance is that we'll provide greater transparency because reports that are filed will be made public,” said Singer. “We're also planning, and as was discussed on Monday, a database that will be publicly accessible of all buildings and the reports filed under the certification process. So that'll be available to residents and homeowners as well.”

Singer said he reached out to the president of the Beach Condo Association of Boca Raton and Highland Beach shortly after the Surfside tragedy. He says the association had already been proactive about their future plans.

“They've been sharing stories of some condos that have already been undertaking multi-year comprehensive restoration efforts,” said Singer. “And they're going to be soliciting feedback from their residents on the ordinance. And I think the goal is to make it better."

Boca Raton's city council wants to make sure city provisions don't conflict with whatever decision the county makes in the near future.

The city will be incorporating more suggestions between now and the final vote on the ordinance, which is set for the council's Aug. 24 meeting.

Singer says several hundred buildings will be affected by the ordinance as the staff continues to put together a comprehensive inventory.

“And now we're using the next few weeks before the final reading of the ordinance to backfill all the information so we can know the precise number of buildings that would be impacted,” Singer said.

Wilkine Brutus is the Palm Beach County Reporter for WLRN. The award-winning journalist produces stories on topics surrounding local news, culture, art, politics and current affairs. Contact Wilkine at wbrutus@wlrnnews.org
More On This Topic