Destin officials to ask state for more oversight on high-rise condos

Tony Judnich, Northwest Florida Daily News
·2 min read

DESTIN — The City Council agreed Monday to ask local state legislators to strengthen the state’s oversight of high-rise condominiums.

With a 5-2 vote, the council took that action instead of voting on a proposed ordinance that called for periodic city-required inspections of tall buildings in Destin.

The proposed ordinance would have required inspections to be done every 10 years on any “threshold” building, defined as a structure that is greater than three stories or 50 feet tall, or that exceeds 5,000 square feet in area and holds more than 500 people.

High-rise condominiums in Destin overlook the beach and Gulf of Mexico. The Destin City Council on Monday voted 5-2 to ask Florida legislators to strengthen the state's oversight of high-rise condominiums rather than enact a local ordinance to require inspections.
High-rise condominiums in Destin overlook the beach and Gulf of Mexico. The Destin City Council on Monday voted 5-2 to ask Florida legislators to strengthen the state's oversight of high-rise condominiums rather than enact a local ordinance to require inspections.

More: Destin among first local governments to consider condo inspections after Surfside collapse

According to the ordinance, each inspection would be performed by a licensed state certified special inspector, post-certificate of occupancy or otherwise occupied and at the expense of the property owner or homeowners’ association. Inspection reports also would have to be submitted to the city.

At Monday’s meeting, however, Councilman Jim Bagby voiced opposition to the proposed ordinance.

“The city is getting in the business that it has no business being in,” Bagby said. The proposed ordinance “covers every structure over 50 feet tall in this city. That’s a lot of houses (in various areas). We can’t run this program effectively.”

This past June, 98 people died in the partial collapse of a 12-story condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside.

More: Five things to know about our latest Surfside condo collapse investigation

More: Pre-renovations begin at Destin's aging Shoreline Towers condo. What's the fate of the HOA?

Shoreline Towers condominiums on Holiday Isle in Destin would have among buildings that would have needed to be inspected every 10 years if the Destin City Council had approved an ordinance Monday. Instead, the council voted 5-2 to ask Florida legislators to strengthen the state's oversight of high-rise condos.
Shoreline Towers condominiums on Holiday Isle in Destin would have among buildings that would have needed to be inspected every 10 years if the Destin City Council had approved an ordinance Monday. Instead, the council voted 5-2 to ask Florida legislators to strengthen the state's oversight of high-rise condos.

Destin officials wrote in part of their proposed ordinance that, “In the wake of the devastating building collapse in Surfside, Florida, the City Council desires to amend the Code of Ordinances to require decennial post-occupancy building inspections for threshold buildings in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.”

But like Bagby, Councilman Rodney Braden said Destin officials should leave inspections of high-rise buildings to the state.

Councilmen Dewey Destin and Kevin Schmidt, each of whom supported moving forward with the proposed ordinance on city-required inspections, cast the two “no” votes on Bagby’s motion to ask the state for better oversight.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Destin officials vote to strengthen state's oversight of tall condos