HOUSTON – Almost half of the city’s population live in apartment buildings. Sadly, some of the units are rundown and falling apart. Some places are so bad that people have actually died. The city is now trying to make sure that will never happen again.
It comes almost too late for Pedro Lopez. It is hard to tell his story. He can’t speak, and no one is really sure what he can or cannot comprehend.
What we do know is that he was injured at Harbor Town apartments in southwest Houston. Lopez fell after a railing at the top of the stairs broke loose from its foundation.
There are more than 4,000 complexes in Houston. Many were built in the 70s and 80s when Houston was booming, but now, some of these aging apartments are falling apart.
After an apartment stairwell in the 9400 block of Concourse collapsed and killed two young boys last year, we all learned just how little is being done to check the safety of apartment communities.
The city admitted the apartments where the two boys died hadn’t been inspected in 12 years.
The new program will be managed by Public Works. Beginning in April 2010, the department says it will take a proactive, instead of just a reactive approach.
“We are going to periodically cycle through all of the apartments through the city of Houston doing an inspection to be sure we’ve got compliance with the city codes,” said Andy Icken, Deputy Director of Public Works.
In the past, several different city agencies inspected apartments only when complaint calls came in, or when there was a tragedy like the stairwell collapse.
But now, the new ordinance will require all apartments to register with the city and to open their doors to inspectors.
The city admits it will be difficult to check on them all, at first.
“We have a limited staff, but enough to do the job. It may take three to four years to get through all of them, and we are picking those that have been problems in the past or those that chose not to register with us in the first place,” said Icken.
11 News obtained the new inspection forms. There is a section that deals specifically with physical safety and/or the health of the building’s tenants.
Many have to deal with electrical wiring. At least two apartment residents were killed this year because there wasn’t proper grounding of electrical wires.
But what happens if the owners of these complexes don’t comply?
“Well, we’ve got citations to deal with that and they will have to deal with municipal court. And ultimately if the remedy isn’t clearly defined and it isn’t fixed, we could force people to vacate that part of the building or do other things,” said Icken.
“That is not our goal, our goal is to make sure every apartment meets the city’s standards.”
Pedro Lopez’s family has contacted Houston attorney Terry Bryant about filing a civil lawsuit.
