New apartment complex a disaster waiting to happen?

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New apartment complex a disaster waiting to happen?
Building in progress. BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN

Editor, The Beacon:

I picked up my Beacon this morning to see the headline “DeLand developer comes hat in hand.”

It seems they did not calculate costs or budget properly before taking on this task, and have run short of money, so they are using plywood instead of CBS block to build the exterior walls.

I drive by this site once a week, and have taken notice of the fact that the walls appear to be made of wood. I commented with incredulity to my husband about the fact.

I’m not an engineer, just a native of Miami who survived many serious storms, including one we call Andrew that occurred about 30 years ago.

At the time, when it became safe to do so, we walked around our neighborhood to view the devastation. Across the lane from our home, about 20 yards away, an identical town house made of poured concrete had the whole back of it torn off. Fortunately, the residents were hunkered down on the lower floor. Apartments and town homes throughout our neighborhood of Kendall were in splinters.

We were situated 24 and 28 miles inland on either side from the ocean. DeLand is 24 miles from New Smyrna Beach and about 25 miles from Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

When we purchased our home here, one of the owner’s selling points was that we had a brand-new roof on an 8-year-old home. Why? Because a tornado came through the backyard and took the original one off.

What is our City Commission thinking? If the builders can’t build a safe structure, the project should be brought to a halt. No one wants to learn of a tragedy with even one lost life. This building looks like a disaster in waiting.

Tracy W. Romero

DeLand

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