Jeff Vane: “We don’t want the balconies taken down over this.”

As of This Afternoon It Appeared Nothing Had Been Done to the Balconies at 563 Cumberland Avenue.

ByCarol McCracken  (Post # 2,293)

An incomplete report from the City of Portland late this afternoon states that the rental building from which a tenant, Donnie Stain, fell to his death from a second floor balcony, has passed its inspection – or at least some of it. Stain, a popular tenant at  563 Cumberland Avenue  fell to an asphalt parking lot below the balcony on Wednesday afternoon, April 22, 2015.

Tenants at the building, owned by Harry Krigman, of Cape Elizabeth, remember Stain, 54, as someone who was always  helping people with chores around the building.  Sources also said that Stain had complained to the landlord of his concerns about the safeness of the balconies – which he rarely used according to tenants – who seldom saw him out on any of the three balconies in the building. On April 22nd after helping a neighbor with her groceries, he was smoking a cigarette on the balcony when it collapsed.

Although the inspection report was incomplete late this afternoon, the city’s spokeswoman, Jessica Grondin emailed that the 11  unit building did pass its inspection conducted this morning. That inspection was presumably based upon a written plan submitted by Krigman to correct the situation with the balconies,  However, there are two fire code violations in the building that Krigman was given until Monday, June 8th to correct.  The nature of the two fire violations were not available this afternoon.

The city informed Krigman that he had until Friday, May 8th to show some progress at the building in order to pass inspection.  That progress could be in the form of removal of all three balconies, the appropriate repair of the three balconies or a written plan of action submitted by the building owner.  It is believed that Krigman submitted a written plan of action to remove the balconies which was the basis for the city’s approval.  No information was available this afternoon as to whether or not there is a deadline attached to this plan of action and what penalties might be imposed to prevent the situation from dragging on forever and forever.  Meanwhile, access to the balconies have been nailed shut by the property manager, John Jensen, at the city’s direction.

The Friday May 8th deadline from the city was delayed until today because city staff were off on vacation and because a plan of action was in development.

Jeff Vane, a resident of 563 Cumberland Avenue said that the residents of the building are still upset about the death of Donnie Stain.  “We don’t want the balconies taken down over this.”