ORANGE COUNTY – Orange County leaders signaled Tuesday that they are ready to close the door on a condominium complex with a checkered past.

 

Commissioners directed county officials to schedule a vote to be taken at an upcoming commission meeting on the future of Tymber Skan on the Lake. If approved, the vote would kickstart a process to terminate the Tymber Skan’s condominiums, utilize a third-party agency to sell the property, and offer services to impacted residents. “Sadly, we’ve been dealing with this for far too long,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. Problems have plagued Tymber Skan for decades. Once regarded as a luxurious condominium complex in the 1970s, issues began to emerge in the 1990s, according to an Orange County presentation at Tuesday’s meeting.

Jason Reynolds, the deputy director of the county’s planning, environmental & development services department, gave the presentation to commissioners Tuesday.

He said the decline of Tymber Skan started in the 1990s due to mismanagement of funds and poor administration by the condo association.

“Tymber Skan, as we know, is plagued by public safety concerns and residents live in unsafe and precarious conditions,” Reynolds said.

The complex has been host to notorious crimes, fires, and other incidents.

“The majority of the buildings are demolished,” Reynolds said. “The existing buildings are unsafe, dilapidated, fire hydrants are unmaintained.”

Reynolds said the county became involved in the complex in 2014 when Tymber Skan’s water bill to OUC was past due, prompting residents to appeal to commissioners for help.

Today, Orange County owns 38% of the condominium units, most of which have been demolished.

Some of the residents who remain in Tymber Skan do not have running water, Reynolds said.

“I know when I see something that’s unsafe,” Demings said of the complex. “And this is it.”

Demings and other commissioners acknowledged that any sale of the property should not transpire without the relocation of residents.

“Those people who are living there deserve to have the opportunity to get out of there,” Demings said.