Councilwoman intervenes to get her condo pool reopened, but inspections do save lives
As a Kansas City councilwoman, Katheryn Shields was able to get her condo pool reopened recently — twice — after city inspectors closed it for what she saw as minor infractions.
She realizes not every resident has that kind of clout — a shame, she says — and argues that her pool should never have been shut down over such trivial matters as the color of a shelf in the pool and what street address is displayed for 911 dispatchers when calling from the pool’s emergency phone.
Maybe these infractions really were no big deal. But we’ve got to stop treating inspections as an annoyance to be gotten around if you know the right person to call.
Regulations are often denounced as job-killing, but they can be lifesaving if they’re taken seriously, as we have been reminded by the stunning 12-story condo collapse June 24 in the Miami area.
We don’t yet know the exact cause of the condo collapse in Surfside north of Miami Beach, which may end up being the deadliest in U.S. history. But a 2018 report detailed “major structural damage” that was about to be addressed with millions in repairs. It included a possibly faulty concrete slab beneath the pool deck. In addition, ocean water was said to have regularly overwhelmed the garage’s ability to pump it out.
The death toll in Surfside’s Champlain Towers South collapse topped 20 on Friday, with nearly 130 people unaccounted for.
Not only does the unfathomable tragedy illustrate the invaluable worth of inspections, but it also should send shockwaves through every major city, including Kansas City.
There is historic reason for concern here, such as the 2018 partial collapse of a building at the northeast corner of 18th and Locust. As recently as June 26, a building at 3902 Woodland began a frightening fall. Just last March, the historic House of Hits building in the 18th & Vine Jazz District partially collapsed. There are other examples as well, the most infamous being the collapse of the Hyatt Regency skywalks 40 years ago this month, which killed 114 and injured 200-plus. At the time, it was the deadliest unintentional building crash in American history.
Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced a resolution Thursday directing the city manager to review Kansas City’s current policies related to building inspections of city owned/leased buildings. The resolution was referred to the Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations committee.
Without doubt, the review needs to include all major buildings, public and private.
“In the wake of the tragedy in Surfside, Florida,” the city said in a statement to The Star late Friday, “we are taking a proactive look at our building codes and finding ways to expand upon our existing inspection process. Our building codes are incredibly strict and follow all national and international regulations. Considering the issues we saw in Florida and in alignment with (the mayor’s resolution), we will engage a commission of stakeholders to review our rules and regulations to ensure the highest level of safety for all city owned and leased buildings.”
Something proactive must be done. What we’re seeing in Florida is the calamitous rubble of afterthought. What we need is prevention. Kansas City officials must act now to make certain that such a collapse never again happens here.
Shields still believes the city inspector checking out her condo community’s pool was overzealous. If inspectors are too nitpicky, she says, that risks putting people off and having them tune out.
But inspectors have every reason to be zealous. And what may seem to some residents to be a small variance or violation of code may not be so inconsequential from a safety standpoint. That chip, that crack, that erosion, that corrosion — it all adds up.
Inspectors know that. And as Miami proves, we’ve got to let them do their jobs.
