Officials condemned one unit at the Clara Point Apartments Wednesday after living conditions were found to be unsafe for occupation.
Columbia County Code Enforcement and the Buildings Standard Department performed exterior and interior inspection on buildings 1-7 and units A-H on July 22 and August 2 at the complex at 300 Applecross Dr., Martinez.
“Upon inspection that was conducted on 22 July 2022 it was found that all of the units at Applecross Apartments were deficient for the required smoke alarms,” according to a letter from Columbia County Fire Marshal Supervisor Paul Vance.
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Many other issues were found throughout the apartment buildings such as exposed wires, leaks, flooding, roach infestation, no power in some receptacles, water damage and more during the July 22 inspection.
According to the Code Enforcement report, Code Enforcement and the Fire Marshal’s Department inspected the apartments again for working smoke detectors and found several still deficient on July 23.
Code Enforcement issued 10 citations to the property manager on site for the occupied apartments without the required amount of working smoke detectors.
Those violations were fixed, but due to the many other violations, another inspection was scheduled Aug. 2.
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One apartment unit out of the 20 inspections done was deemed unsafe and unfit for occupation and condemned on site according to the report from Code Enforcement. The management group was given a list of violations to be corrected within 30 days for each apartment and a copy of the single condemnation.
According to the report, management said they would assist the tenant in the condemned apartment with living arrangements.
Clara Point Apartments, formerly known as Applecross Apartments, is owned by Joe Mullins, a resident of Columbia County and chair of the Flagler County Commission in Florida.
Chris Rickerson is a staff reporter covering Columbia County government and general assignment topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at chris@theaugustapress.com.
