"Citations to Appear issued to Pacifica Anastasia LLC, Seaside Villas Complex, and Coldwell Banker Premier Properties Manager Kelly Neace, for notice of violation of sections relative to the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018, at Seaside Villas Condominiums, 30 Clipper Court, St. Augustine Beach, Florida, 32080"
St. Augustine Record article here:
SEASIDE VILLAS: Many problems, few results at troubled apartment complex
The Seaside Villas Apartment complex on Pope Road in St. Augustine Beach is managed by San Diego-based Pacifica SD Management. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
By Jared Keever
Posted Sep 28, 2018 at 7:44 PM
Updated Sep 28, 2018 at 7:44 PM
The city of St. Augustine Beach continues to field complaints from tenants of a beachside apartment complex that has been plagued with problems for at least two years, but it remains to be seen what, if anything, officials have been able to do to address the concerns.
Tenant exposure to mold, mildew, wood rot, “major plumbing issues,” “windows screwed shut,” air conditioners in disrepair or not working, air handlers leaking into units, and stairways and railings in need of repair are just a few items in a litany of problems outlined in a recent letter that Beach Code Enforcement Officer Bill Ward sent to San Diego-based Pacifica SD Management, the company that owns and manages Seaside Villas apartments on Pope Road.
The Record received the letter, dated Aug. 29, as part of a public records request for correspondence between Pacifica and city officials. The request was sent as the result of several complaints over the past two years from residents complaining of shoddy living conditions and a lack of responsiveness from management.
In response to the records request, the City provided The Record with nearly 300 pages of documentation (some of them duplicates) containing complaints and photographs from residents as well as unit inspections conducted by city officials.
Also included was correspondence from two residents who recently paid to have mold inspections conducted in their units. In both apartments an inspection company detected the presence of mold including Stachybotrys, a mold commonly referred to as “black mold” that literature included with one report says has the ability to produce “mycotoxins” which “may cause a burning sensation in the mouth, throat and nasal passages.” Chronic exposure, the information says, “has been known to cause headaches, diarrhea, memory loss and brain damage.”
A tenant of one of those units, Jenn LeBuff, spoke with The Record for a story published in early September and told of her family being forced out of her apartment at 23 Schooner Court amid concerns of a mold infestation that she feared had made her husband and one of her young daughters sick.
Ward referenced LeBuff’s apartment as well as her neighbor’s (who also moved out amid mold concerns and positive mold tests) in his most recent letter. He also wrote of “a long history of multiple Building and Code violations with related health concerns” coming out the complex. The majority of the complaints “remain consistent” to the list of problems with both the interiors and exteriors of the units that he lists in two paragraphs and include the air conditioning problems as well as those with the windows and stairways and railings.
“The listed items above are just an example of the complaints that are referred to our office weekly,” he wrote.
The letter said the document should serve as “official notice” that management should contact the city’s building director’s office by Sept. 7.
It is unclear what, if any, follow-up has been undertaken since the letter was sent.
Neither Ward nor Building Director Brian Law responded to an email from The Record this week asking for an interview about the complex. A copy of that email was also sent to City Manager Max Royle.
A call to the regional manager with Pacifica (which manages the apartments through various companies with similar names that all share the same San Diego address) was not returned.
The August letter closely resembles a letter that former Building Director Gary Larson sent to Pacifica in September 2016.
That was two months after The Record spoke with a family facing similar issues just as the city was notifying Pacifica that the apartment they were living in had been deemed unsafe for occupancy.
In that case the family was moved to another unit and has since moved out of the complex.
Larson’s letter contained what appear to be identical paragraphs with the same list of problems that Ward just sent.
Citing the continuing problems at the complex, Larson, in 2016, asked for access to all units for a “thorough inspection.”
It remains unclear if that ever happened.
Though he did not respond this week, Law did speak with The Record shortly after LeBuff moved out.
He said, then, he was not sure what action followed Larson’s letter.
Having started in his position with the city in December, Law said his office was aware of the problems at Seaside Villas and officials have been “monitoring the situation” and have managed to get the company to make some repairs.
Law said he knew that his office received a “couple” of complaints “a couple of months ago,” but without looking back at records could not say how many complaints his office has fielded since he took over Larson’s old job.
He did not mention Ward’s Aug. 29 letter.
No comments:
Post a Comment