CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, Charlotte County Commissioners accepted a $2.5 million dollar grant to make improvements to the traffic light at the Harborview Road and Kings Highway intersection.
The grant is for the construction of a hurricane resistant mast arm traffic signal at the intersection, which would better withstand storms than the current lights that hang from a wire.
The county said the mast arm lights provide a more rigid mounting for signal heads. It also said that after Hurricane Ian it was evident that the existing mast arm lights the county has installed at other intersections were not as damaged as the wire lights. Additionally, the improvements include disability accessibility and enhanced lighting.
Construction is set to begin in June 2025, and be completed by June 2027. Funding has been applied for, for the remaining 10 wire light intersections around the county.
Also during Tuesday’s commissioners meeting,new regulations for condo and co-op building inspections were approved.
The county will require all buildings that are 25-year-old and within a three mile radius of saltwater to be inspected by Dec. 31, and every ten years after that.
“Saltwater has negative effects on buildings, specifically the steel reinforcing that's embedded in the concrete,” said Shawn McNulty, Building Official and Floodplain Administrator. “It deteriorates the entire structural integrity of the building.”
The new inspection requirement is in addition to the state’s Milestone Inspections that require all condos and co-ops that are 30-year-old or older to be inspected by Dec. 31 and every ten years after that. The legislation followed the collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside in 2021.
McNulty said the regulations are a way to hold building owners accountable for the safety of the
“It holds them responsible to make sure these buildings stay maintained,” said McNulty. because as we saw in Surfside, Miami, 98 people lost their lives in that building collapse.”
