Singleton's deck closed for lack of building permit

From our partner Action News:

Just weeks after a deck collapsed in Neptune Beach during a 4th of July celebration, another local deck is under investigation. This one at a popular restaurant in Mayport -- Singleton's.

The deck was shut down after an Action News investigation. Public records obtained by Action News reveal the 2-year-old wooden structure was never permitted to be built in the first place, when Singleton's submitted its plans in 2011. The plans were sent back for revision, but the deck was built anyway and opened for service.

"Oh my goodness I didn't know that," said regular customer George Goodman. "It's a little disappointing."

"I think it should be inspected," said another customer. Action News thought the same thing, so we contacted city inspectors.

Based on our calls, they went to check out the deck, and shut it down due to design flaws with the floor boards.

Owner Dean Singleton is defending his restaurant. He says he wasn't even made aware of the problem and blames the contractor.

"It's just a misunderstanding between the contractors and the city," he said.

The city is giving Singleton's 30 days to reapply for a new building permit to fix the deck. Singleton says new plans are already in the works and he hopes to get them approved quickly so he can reopen the deck in two weeks or less. Singleton's restaurant is still open.