City withholds certificate of occupancy for rentals in Wilton Manors

City commissioners in Wilton Manors voted to withhold a certificate of occupancy for a new rental apartment complex because power lines to the property aren’t underground.

Developer Michael Wohl said he and his partners tried but failed to convince Florida Power & Light to put power lines to the property underground.

Robert Lochrie, an attorney representing Wohl and his partners, said withholding a certificate of occupancy for the apartment complex, called The Metropolitan, is unfair because his clients couldn’t force FPL to put the property’s power lines underground.

City commissioners recently voted 4-0 against issuing a certificate of occupancy and approving a site plan adjustment for The Metropolitan, a 179-unit rental complex at 1224 Northeast 24 Street in Wilton Manors.

Putting the property’s power lines underground was a condition that the developers accepted when the city commission approved The Metropolitan development in 2014.

Commissioner Scott Newton said the developers failed to conduct due diligence prior to FPL’s refusal to put the power lines underground.

 The Metropolitan was built on a site next to Colohatchee Park that a blighted trailer park previously occupied. [Wilton Manors Gazette] – Mike Seemuth