SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - Families of the victims of the Surfside condo collapse met with developers who are planning to build a new condo on the site. They now want to make sure that a solemn memorial is part of the new space.

On Wednesday, families continued to fight for a memorial on 88th street after ninety-eight people died when the Champlain Towers South building collapsed back in June 2021.

They met with developers and commissioners to talk about the placement of garbage collection and a loading dock for the building that would encroach on the memorial site.

Surfside’s Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 1 approved a proposal by a Dubai-based developer to build a luxury condominium at 88th Street and Collins Avenue.

“So they want to say, ‘Let’s take advantage and take as much as we can from 88th Street. Let’s put trash trucks where they died. Let’s put the loading docks where they died,'” said Martin Langesfeld, a Surfside memorial advocate. “Garbage and a City Furniture truck is not emergency vehicle access. We thought it was going to be very different.”

Families asked developers to consider presenting a plan where the garbage collection and loading dock could be moved to Collins Avenue.

According to the developers, they are working on solutions but claim they need to submit plans that are code compliant. They mentioned that having garbage and a loading dock on Collins would not be code compliant.

“Before you do any traffic modifications, you need to ensure that that is properly engineered and properly is consistent with a certain level of standards that is set forth, that is meant to control safety in the travel ways,” said a developer. “County has standards, as well as there are other standards.

A possible workaround, families said, is for developers to ask state agencies for a special exception.

“Towards the end, I asked very simply, ‘Can you commit to presenting a plan to [the Florida Department of Transportation] with the loading dock and the garbage truck access on Collins Avenue?’ His answer? ‘No,'” Langesfeld said.

The developers will present a plan for approval to the town commission on Sept. 27.

Those families are now hoping that some kind of special approval happens for those plans before the Sept. 27 meeting so that the city commission can approve a plan that excludes a garbage collection site and loading dock on the site of the memorial.

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