Water and power now shut off at Cape Coral apartment home

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – A Cape Coral apartment house has no water and no power and the people inside say they will live that way to send a message to city leaders.

This is an update to a WINK News investigation we’ve followed for months.

The city cut utilities at the Haven of Divine Love apartments near Del Prado Boulevard and Veterans Parkway.

“How would you like to go home and fund yourself without water and electricity,” said Sara Rodriguez who lived in the apartment unit.

“We moved from a one bedroom to a studio because we cannot live without water or electricity,” said Rodriguez.

The City of Cape Coral took these drastic measures after finding numerous fire code violations. The major concern is an outdoor stairwell that is missing the bottom half of steps.

The city says they gave the owner of the complex, Jerome Valenta, eight months to fix the staircase, but he refused.

“If we did then we would have to admit that they were right that the stairs were structurally unsound, which they were not,” said Valenta.

Now Rodriguez and others living in the unit are running extension cords from another complex next door which the city says is extremely dangerous.

Rodriguez tells WINK News a disgruntled former resident complained to the city about the code violations and says without their knowledge the complex went from residential to zoned as commercial.

Because it is considered a commercial property, they must pull permits and hire a licensed contractor to repair the stairs.

“And it is going to cost us thousands of dollars, which a non-profit has thousands of dollars for a stair repair? Nobody,” said Rodriguez.

Connie Barron with the City of Cape Coral says if the owner fixes the violations the water and power will be turned back on. Barron says the city has given them more than enough time.

“Our Fire Marshall said this can no longer continue so today we took the final step, shutting off the water supply to the units,” said Barron.

Valenta is also running this facility next door to a daycare.

WINK News uncovered Valenta is a convicted sex offender and spent three years in a California jail.

According to court documents, while Valenta was in his early 40s he had a two and a half year sexual relationship that started with a girl that was only 7 years old.

The city wants to make sure Valenta isn’t living complex.

“My attorney said to just plead no contest to the whole thing and it will be all over with, so I did, and then they tell me later that a no contest plea is the same as a guilty plea,” said Valenta.

Barron says the city did not want to resort to turning the water off, but says the building is just too unsafe to live in.