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Tallahassee, FL – A bill by Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff would help condo owners by delaying or exempting their costs in a battered market. But as Margie Menzel reports, critics say the measure is too lax on fire safety.
House Bill 561 is one of several efforts to help cash-strapped condo owners weather the real-estate crisis. It would repeal a mandate to retrofit fire sprinklers in buildings over 75 feet and let condo associations decide whether unit owners must buy hazard insurance. It's sponsored by Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who's bringing back a version of a bill that Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed last year.
"What this bill does, kind of, it's self determination," Bogdanoff said. "It allows each condo association to decide for themselves whether or not they want to retrofit the common areas."
But Rep. Luis Garcia, D-Miami and a retired Miami Beach fire chief, said he couldn't support the bill in good conscience.
"For me to go with this, it would be to go against everything I've been preaching all my life, and I cannot do that," he said.
The bill passed 12 to 4 and goes now to the House floor.