Published Aug. 28|Updated Aug. 30
For Glenn Geigler, the two-minute walk from his doorstep to his car can feel like a treacherous journey.
Depending on where he’s parked, he must carefully tip-toe down from the curb and into the driver’s seat to avoid soaking his feet in a filthy puddle.
For nearly a month now, the parking lot at the Lake Azzure apartment complex where he lives has been inundated with shin-deep standing water. Heavy rain Monday night raised the water level even higher, residents said.
“To think that hundreds of families are living in this sewer, it’s absurd,” Geigler said.
He and other residents accused management of ignoring the situation.
But representatives from Goldelm Capital, the company that owns the complex said it’s not for lack of trying. Regional manager Rick Cowan said they’ve spent weeks navigating a bureaucratic gauntlet of city, county and state agencies just to get permission to clear the mess.
“We understand that this has been a very difficult situation for the residents,” Cowan said. “We’re working within the system and trying everything to get the water out of there as fast as we can.”
This is the eighth installment of Housing Horror Stories, an occasional series exploring the unique challenges that come with buying or renting in Tampa Bay.
Reporters from the Tampa Bay Times visited the property — at 8505 Lincoln Cove Drive, just outside Tampa city limits — on Friday and spoke with residents as they slogged through murky waters.
Though the parking lot occasionally flooded after storms, the problem escalated when Hurricane Debby dumped nearly seven inches of rain on Tampa early this month. In the immediate aftermath, the water was knee-deep in certain areas and spilled onto the sidewalk, tenants said.
Cowan said they sent a contractor out to the property to start pumping the following week. At first, the water was moved to a grassy patch between the apartment and Himes Avenue. But when water started flowing out onto the road, Hillsborough County ordered the pumping to stop.
Since then, he said they’ve spent weeks trying to come up with a plan for where to pump the water and receive approval from county officials.
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Explore all your optionsCowan said he was also communicating with the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, a state agency. But representatives from both said they have no jurisdiction.
By Friday afternoon, Cowan said they got the go-ahead to resume pumping. But rain in the forecast may thwart their plans to finally dry out.
As of Tuesday morning, the water was higher than it’s ever been after a downpour the night before, residents said. Some were unable to drive in or out of the parking lot at all.
“Multiple pipe failures within the apartment complex’s outfall system are contributing to the flooding,” Josh Bellotti, the Director of Engineering & Operations for Hillsborough County said in a statement. One source of the problem is a blocked drain that runs under Himes Avenue.
Bellotti noted that county officials will continue to work with apartment management to pump the water and repair the pipes.
Cowan said that a lake behind the property overflowed into the parking lot. He said they’d like to come up with a plan to prevent future flooding, but that it’s unclear who owns the lake.
A map from the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser shows that the lake is split between two parcels, one owned by Lake Azzure and the other by a neighboring apartment complex called Innovo Living on the Water.
The parking lot for Innovo Living showed no signs of flooding.
Tenant Julianna Diaz, who lives on the first floor of her building, said she’s noticed mold spores in her apartment and a damp feel in the air since Debby. Another tenant, Scarlett Vargas, said the front bumper of her truck was damaged from repeatedly driving through deep water.
Cowan said they haven’t received any complaints about water getting inside the apartments or damaging vehicles. There are no plans to offer discounts on rent or options for tenants to exit their leases.
Rent ranges from $1,255 for a one-bedroom to $2,000 for the largest three-bedroom floorpan, according to apartments.com.
“This is just one of those acts of God,” Cowan said.
Several longtime residents said this is not the first time they’ve experienced problems. They complained about six-foot high mountains of trash piling up near the dumpsters and a pool that’s been closed for months at a time.
Cowan said he has never personally witnessed either of those issues.
When Jackson Denly moved to Lake Azzure three years ago, he said he awoke on his first night to find co*ckroaches crawling over him. He noticed broken fire alarms and fire extinguishers in his building. Despite his constant complaints both to the front office and the Fire Marshall, things never seemed to improve.
So when the parking lot flooded, he did nothing.
“I’ve had so many issues in the past, I figured what’s the point?” he said. He plans on moving out early next year once his lease expires.
Times Staff Photographer Douglas Clifford contributed to this report.
If you have a housing horror story of your own, we want to hear about it. Fill out the form below for an opportunity to be featured in the series.
