Global Courant 2023-04-25 06:04:23
The City of Langford, a town of about 46,000 people in the Greater Victoria region, is asking people living in rental apartment complexes to leave their homes after an inspection found the building to be unsafe.
It is the second time since 2019 that RidgeView Place, formerly known as Danbrook One, has had its occupancy license revoked.
The city announced the withdrawal Monday afternoon at a hastily convened press conference.
“It is recommended that all residents evacuate the building immediately,” the city said in a follow-up statement.
A BC engineer was barred from the appeal and fined for his unsafe building design.
Recovery may not have fixed issues
Improvements were made to the 90-unit building when the building’s occupancy permit was first revoked. Last spring, the city let live there again.
The city said the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the BC County (EGBC) has awarded her and building owner Centurion Apartment Properties Inc. .
The city said EGBC concluded in the letter “no evidence that a comprehensive assessment of the building’s structural design or of the building’s as-built structure was ever conducted before the remediation.”
Three days later, the city told Centurion to notify residents, ask an outside engineer to vouch for the building’s safety and conduct an independent RidgeView structural design review.
On Sunday, Centurion told the city that the outside engineer found the building unsafe after a visual inspection and “in the interest of public safety, strongly recommends that the building be evacuated until a more detailed analysis can be conducted.”
“As a result, the city made the decision to revoke the occupancy permit and directed Centurion to immediately notify residents,” the statement said.
“As a building owner, Centurion is responsible for ensuring residents receive the support they need during this challenging time.”
The city said it would never have re-issued the use permit last spring if it had the information it has now.
