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On Friday, Port Royal officials still hadn't heard from the owners of the Paris Avenue building where the collapse took place.

The home is part of Jefferson Commons, four connected units with commercial space on the ground floor and living space above.

Witfield was listed in fair condition in the intensive care unit of Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston on Friday.

Witfield's age and the extent of his injuries have been unavailable this week.

As Witfield recovers, town officials are trying to figure out why the balcony collapsed, and it's an investigation that so far hasn't included the building's owners.

All four Jefferson Commons units are owned by Timothy and Elaine Tantillo of Shamong, N.J., according to Beaufort County's Web site.

The homes were built in 2006 by North Carolina-based Jeff Keever Construction and designed by Port Royal architect Tom Michaels, according to a town building permit.

Reached at her home in New Jersey on Wednesday morning after the collapse, Elaine Tantillo said she was about to leave for Port Royal and wouldn't offer further comment.

But town building official Dan Lemieux on Friday said he still hadn't met with the unit's owners and didn't know if they were in Port Royal.

Calls to a cell phone number provided by Elaine Tantillo weren't returned Thursday or Friday.

"It could be another week or so," Lemieux said of the town's investigation. "I haven't seen the owner of the building yet."

Town manager Van Willis also said he hadn't heard from the owners.

"I have not heard, seen or talked to them," he said.

Once the investigation is completed, Willis said the town will need the Tantillos to take care of cleaning up the area in front of the building.

Debris from the balcony collapse has been left untouched since Tuesday to allow officials to complete their investigation.

Three of the four units in Jefferson Commons have balconies, supported by columns, on the second and third floors.

The unit where the collapse occurred had a balcony on the third floor and an awning on the ground floor.

The town has closed off access to the remaining balconies until the Tantillos can bring in an engineer to study the structures and "address any shortcomings," Willis said.

The Jefferson Commons complex was inspected nine times during construction and passed each review, according to town documents.

An Aug. 16, 2006, inspection is the only one that references the building's balconies or porches.

"Porch rails must support 250 pounds of lateral force," the report states.

Lemieux said the report likely was a typical reminder of standards the balcony rails need to live up to, adding that inspectors test the rails by applying 250 pounds of pressure to them.

The development was granted its certificate of occupancy on Oct. 2, 2006.

FEEDBACK

Shoddy Inspections??? Oh yes!!!

It's unfortunate for this man but hopefully now the head of the town of Port Royal Codes Division will be scrutinized by the law for their part in inspecting and signing off on the collapsed balcony. This codes dept head has been known to be lacking in attention to the building process as can be seen in current town structures which are on record as having passed inspection but are in fact substandard. We are tired of hearing how this department's head is lazy when it comes to his part in the permit process. News Flash: You have to get out from behind the desk if you are going to perform inspections. I know this is an obvious question but otherwise how could this even have been completed?

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