RIVIERA BEACH, Fla-- Was it an accident or a criminal act? That’s the question the owner of a sinking boathouse off Singer Island is asking.
Hoping his home will float again, Fane Lozman is trying to pump water out of his now halfway submerged boathouse.
“There are six inspection holes where the covers are no long there,” said Lozman.
Those holes have to be covered once again before the water can get pumped out. But how did those plates get removed? Lozman has his suspicions, especially after he claims someone broke into his houseboat about 3 weeks ago.
“I need to determine was it a structure failure or was it a second act of vandalism,” he said.
On top of that, Lozman told me when he realized his house was sinking, he found a door, usually closed, wide open.
This is the latest controversy involving Lozman. He wants to build a floating home community there and is demanding Riviera Beach issue him an address.
However, there is a lot of opposition to his plans.
“I don’t think that they should pollute our grass flats and the manatees and all the other animals that live here,” said Mike Stratton, a frustrated resident. “Look at it. It’s on the bottom. Imagine 10-20 of these on the bottom back here.”
Lozman says he owns the 25-acre land that extends into the water, adding that his houseboat is floating on his property. He says these latest incidents just make him even more frustrated that the city still wont give him an address.
“If I had an address, I could have electricity and I could have close circuit cameras looking at my floating homes,” said Lozman.
Lozman says he is waiting to file a police report about his home sinking until he gets more information.