An angry Fort Lauderdale code enforcement board will begin fining the owners of a controversial senior living facility $1,000 a day if they do not comply with demands in two weeks, officials decided Tuesday, the harshest possible punishment available given the circumstances.
Oasis Living Quarters decided to remove all of its residents in March to convert into luxury apartments, according to residents, family members and a state inspection report. But it did not receive a permit when it began renovating the former homes of its elderly residents, according to city officials. The removals, which included residents who were bedridden or had dementia, also led to citations from the state over the lack of written notice.
“You’re moving a bunch of elderly people out with minimal notice,” Donald Karney III, the code enforcement board’s vice chair, said Tuesday. “This is why I’m so aggressive with this particular case. They’ve done these people extremely dirty.”
A Fort Lauderdale building inspector had visited the property in April and found new air conditioning units installed in several rooms on the unoccupied side, demolished kitchenettes, and hallway and corridor partitions that had been torn down, all of which require a building permit.
Half of the property that was once Oasis’ assisted living side is already Waterview luxury apartments. Residents of that side were first moved into the other half, then told to leave in March. The inspector also saw people living in the side that is now Waterview.
Oasis was issued a stop-work order and a notice about Tuesday’s hearing.
Afterwards, the inspector, Andrew Gebbia, tried to schedule a meeting with the facility but it “declined, saying that since they were working on properly permitting the facility, a meeting would not be necessary,” he said Tuesday.
The permit application currently submitted by Oasis contains “a poorly written sketch” of the work area when the permit requires plans that are signed by a licensed architectural engineer, Gebbia said.
He suggested that the board give Oasis 56 days to comply and impose a fine of $100 a day afterwards.
“I have a question,” Karney III said. “Instead of granting them 56 days, can we start fining them immediately?”
Rhonda Montoya Hasan, the assistant city attorney, informed the board that they have to give Oasis a “reasonable” amount of time before imposing fines because it is a new case, but suggested increasing the fine amount. Board members then asked what the shortest reasonable timeframe would be as well as the largest fine they could impose per day.
The maximum fine is $1,000 a day, Hasan said. The board agreed to begin imposing it in 15 days.
No one attended Tuesday’s hearing on behalf of the facility. Oasis is connected to Lee and Jay Podolsky, members of a family of notorious landlords in New York City, the Sun Sentinel previously reported.
City officials are also currently investigating whether there were any code violations on the side that is already operating as Waterview Rentals. Asked Tuesday if there had been work done in those apartments, Gebbia said he didn’t know because he was denied access.