Folly Beach orders Pavilion Watch condos shut for structural repairs
The Post and Courier
By Prentiss Findlay
08 April 2017

Prentiss Findlay—Staff

Folly Beach South Carolina—Structural problems at Pavilion Watch condos prompted the city to shut down one of its largest buildings until ongoing repairs are done, officials said.

This structure is unsafe and its occupancy is prohibited

"This structure is unsafe and its occupancy is prohibited by the city of Folly Beach building official," says a sign posted at the condos on West Arctic Avenue.

Information on when the 30 condos might be OK to occupy again was not available late last week.

"Once we are apprised, we are going to have to make sure that the (repair) work was done," said Mayor Tim Goodwin. "So when they finish, they'll call for an inspection."

At a city hearing in November, an engineer hired by the condo owners association testified the property was unsafe for occupancy. No opposing testimony was presented, and the city ordered the property be vacated until substantial repairs were performed.

Eric Lutz, city building official, decided after hearing the testimony and reviewing letters from the condo owners' engineering firm the property was not stable and had "potential and significant life safety issues" that made it "unsafe and unfit for human habitation until repairs are completed."

Reached Friday, Lutz referred media questions to the condo's homeowner association and to the city's attorney.

“stack-a-shacks”

Lutz was not the city building inspector when the condos were permitted in 2000, Goodwin said. During that era, Folly saw a few similar large-scale projects, which some locals criticized as "stack-a-shacks" out of character with the island.

Pavilion Watch—a thin, elongated structure with three residential stories over an open parking area—sits along the second row from the beach near Center Street.

A spokesman for the Pavilion Watch Owners Association could not be reached for comment.

City attorney Joe Wilson provided a copy of the order requiring that the condos be repaired to make them safe before they are occupied again. He said he could not comment more about the situation beyond what was in the order.

In a September letter to the condo owners, the engineering firm Rickborn & Associates alleged "numerous structural deficiencies associated with the original construction of the condominium complex."

They included alleged problems with the framing of the front access walkways and rear private decks. In addition, the Rickborn & Associates letter cited "severe deterioration of some portions of the site installed girder system supporting these two areas of the three condominium buildings."

The firm again inspected Pavilion Watch condos in October after Hurricane Matthew at the request of Lutz. Rickborn & Associates reported finding some worsening of previously observed problems with structural framing for the front access walkways and rear private decks.

"At this time, it is R&A's opinion that the potential and significant life safety issues that exist at Pavilion Watch Condominiums make the structures unsafe to occupy," the firm wrote in an Oct. 8 letter to Lutz.

The condo owners sued more than a dozen defendants in 2012

The condo owners sued more than a dozen defendants in 2012, alleging gross negligence in the construction of the condos. The plaintiffs sought actual damages in an amount to be determined at trial as well as incidental, special, consequential and punitive damages, according to a copy of the suit.

In February, Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson issued an order to restore the suit to the active Circuit Court roster.


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