PETERSBURG, Va. -- As elevator issues persist at the Carriage House Apartments, at least one Petersburg city leader is asking fellow council members whether the city should revoke the building's occupancy permit.
"If they can’t do what’s right and if they want to piece things together and not be according to code and all that, then it's our authority that we can take away that occupancy permit until you get it right," Petersburg City Councilman Marlow Jones said.
Broken elevators and other issues at the apartment building for senior and disabled residents prompted the building's owners, Envolve, to move residents out in April in order to make needed repairs. Two months to the day, they moved back in with one elevator working and Envolve saying the second elevator would be up and running in July. There is still just one working elevator.
WATCH: Councilman blasts apartment owners over broken elevators
"The elevator has broken down three times," resident Julie Nicholas said. "Then you have to take the stairs and I can’t walk so, there’s a lot of people in here that can’t walk, so we can’t take the stairs."
Councilman Jones said the time has come for something to be done.
"What they promise hadn’t been what’s delivered," he said.
"I think Marlow and I are on the same page and our ultimate concern is the welfare of resident of Carriage House," Petersburg Councilman Charlie Cuthbert said. "If the property owners will ante up the money to make the necessary improvements, we won’t be having these problems."
Jones said he had concerns about the building's one working elevators breaking down.
"I’ve been contacted about somebody being trapped in the elevator, about the elevator not working and it starts to work and it stops working," he said.
CBS 6 cameras caught code enforcement at the apartment complex, but the city has not responded to repeated questions about why code enforcement was inside the apartment building.
This is a developing story. Anyone with information can email the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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