Alex Northington practically lives on the edge of a cliff. Lawn that belongs to the 39-year-old man sits inches from a ravine that is expanding and chipping away at land close to the foundation of his 2,600-square-foot house in Brooks Chase, a new subdivision near Lawrenceville.
The erosion problem started with the historic floods in September. Rising water from the community's detention pond next to Northington's property triggered an overflow valve, sending a torrent through a 48-inch pipe and into the ravine, which partially falls on his property line. Now with each heavy rain, the quarter-acre ditch gets deeper, the sidewalls steeper.
"The yard is collapsing," said Northington, who loses a half-inch of property with each downpour. "I'm leery of hiring someone to mow the grass because I'm afraid he might fall in the ditch, get injured and sue."
The visual erosion, patches of rock and dirt where lush green once stood, is less than a dozen feet from the house. In addition, two of his neighbors' homes have been flooded and a nearby community sidewalk appears close to a cave-in.
After eight months of firing off letters and e-mails to his homeowners association, the developer, builder and Gwinnett County planners, Northington has hired an attorney. Northington wants the HOA, developer or builder to pay for a retaining wall to prevent further erosion. From Gwinnett County, he wants answers: Specifically why two drain pipes off his property -- one from the detention pond, the other running under his street -- are draining into the ditch and through one 48-inch pipe downstream. The excess water from two pipes clogs the third, which causes the ditch to fill up, Northington maintains.
In e-mails obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gwinnett acting planning director Bryan Lackey said the pipe under Pebble Chase Lane was designed to handle the September flooding. The downstream pipe was not, but it wasn't required when installed, Lackey wrote.
"Because this design met our regulations, I cannot offer any alterations to the drainage system that I would be able to require the developer to undertake," Lackey said in an e-mail to Northington in late May.
Kevin Denny, president of Liberty Community Management, which oversees the HOA, said in an e-mail that the HOA has maintained the detention pond to county codes. As for the erosion, it primarily falls on private property, Denny said.
"While the association acknowledges erosion problems do exist, the homeowners association does not have the responsibility, nor right, to resolve erosion issues on private property," Denny told the AJC.
The developer, Northstar Properties, and the builder, Eric Chafin Homebuilders, did not respond to several requests for comment.
Homeowner James Wilson lives just behind Northington. During September's deluge, Wilson said 22 inches of water coming from his neighbor's property soaked his family room and garage and totaled his car. The cost was $35,000, paid out of his own pocket.
"Every time it rains real hard, you always think it could happen again," Wilson said. "Sooner or later, it's probably going to happen again."
Northington said he has a personal attachment to his three-story house, which he bought for $288,000 in June 2008. Since October that year, he has worked to transform the unfinished basement into a recreation room. He recently bought a pool table and wired the room for surround sound.
"All parties need to know that I am not going to let this go," Northington said. "My house's foundation is laying in the balance."
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
