Family says development damages old farmhouse
ADAMS TWP — Cathy Roach was alone in her kitchen when her house started to shake one day last November.
Pots, pans and picture frames rattled. Across the street, excavators and trucks carved up the earth for Cypress Fields, a 35-unit development approved last year.
“The sensation is like a hovercraft over your house,” Roach said. “It's almost as if some sort of high-powered helicopter was on top of you. As soon as they would turn that machine on you would feel it and hear it. It's very strange.”
For the last 12 months, Roach said, she experiences it several times a week. In August she received confirmation that the vibrations are also damaging the house's foundation and chimney, potentially putting those inside at risk.
When the plan was first proposed to Adams Township officials in 2016, Roach raised concerns that it was too close to her 150-year-old farmhouse. Her home was built in 1863, before setback requirements and lies 13 feet from Davidson Road, a 17-foot-wide street that borders the development.
“I was concerned because my original 150-year-old portion is the front. That's the worst part,” Roach said. “I brought that to their attention, that it's a stacked stone foundation, what was going to happen being that close?”
Supervisors told her the plan did not violate any township ordinances, she said, and they couldn't deny approval based on her concerns.
Additionally, the developer, Bove Development Corporation, conducted pre-surveys of the Roach property which had not indicated that there would be a problem, said Terry Bove, president of Bove.
Supervisors approved Cypress Fields in January 2017
The trucks rolled in Nov. 1 that year, Roach said, and by mid-November her family became concerned with the immense rumbling and noise coming from the earthwork across the street. The vibrations escalated in January of this year, Roach said, after other equipment was introduced. She reached out to supervisors and the developer sent an engineer to study the house and assess the damage.
Roach did not receive the findings until March. Meanwhile, she said, her foundation began to deteriorate.The family doesn't go down to their basement much, Roach said, so it wasn't until June that she went downstairs and discovered what had been happening.“When I went down looking and realized the wetness in there, I was astounded,” she said.The family hired an engineer, Roy Kim Jr., who confirmed the vibrations had damaged the house and its foundation, causing the foundation wall to bulge inward. In his August report, Kim listed several “anomalies” that he attributed to the machinery across the street.This included the inward displacing of the foundation wall; cracks and gaps in the foundation wall; pieces of powdered mortar and stone found on the floor; and dampness seeping into the basement.Kim also noted damage to other parts of the house — including cracks in numerous walls and ceilings throughout the structure — all attributable to the vibrations.“The observed new and progressive anomalies are consistent with the timing of the temporary roadway construction and vibratory compaction and the ongoing earthwork,” he said.The engineer hired by the developer, Daniel Messmer of Gateway, concurred in a report of his own, adding that while he believes the house remained in “good structural condition,” he recommended that the foundation be reinforced.Kim said that as earthwork continues the vibrations will likely continue to cause damage. He also noted damage to the home's chimney — a more immediate problem as it could lead to carbon monoxide leaks in the house.For the Roach family, the situation has led to serious concern over whether or not they are safe in their own home.“We're afraid,” she said.In early October, representatives from Bove Development and the Roach family, along with their respective engineers, met to decide what could be done. Roach said they offered to fix the damages, but she was careful not to get her hopes up.“Around the table, they are saying they will fix the damages,” she said. “That being said, we'll see how quickly they fix the damages and how long-term the fixes will be.”Bove said the meeting helped officials better understand what they could do to remedy the situation.“We went there to say 'OK, what are the issues, and what can we do to satisfy you?” he said Wednesday. “We agreed we would work with them and provide some remedy to some of the issues they identified.”Bove said he and his company have made arrangements to bring a contractor to the house to recommend repairs and to begin fixing the damage. He said that this is the first time in 25 years that he's had an issue like this with a project.While it does look as if progress is being made, Roach said she's been increasingly frustrated with what she sees as the lack of support from township and state officials.“I was pretty much told by the township 'I don't know what else we can do for you, they're following the rules.' I said 'Where are the rules to protect me?'” she said.Roach called numerous other government agencies and organizations, all of whom told her the same thing.“I've called the EPA, and they don't have designated rules for the vibratory equipment in a residential (area),” she said. “I've called every department I can think of and because there's no written vibratory laws for the residents, nobody cares that the house is shaking on an almost daily basis.”Township minutes show Roach came to supervisor meetings often to update them on the status of her house and on her difficulty communicating with the developer.While there was little they could do officially, supervisors and township Manager Gary Peaco did offer to relay her concerns to the developer and to meet with Bove to work toward a solution.Roach said she suspects this helped, as the developer eventually stopped parking trucks near her home and seemed to be more conscientious about noise levels at certain points throughout the day.Roach also thanked the board for their help in cleaning up her driveway when run-off from Cypress Fields flooded and damaged it, though she added that the developer should have been the one to clean it up.Peaco said officials are doing what they can to help the situation, and are keeping in close contact with the developer.“We have met with and been in touch with the developer numerous times since it started,” he said in an email. “We have a couple different inspectors from the township engineer's office that visits the site almost every day.”He added that Butler County Conservation District officials have also been in contact with Bove.Roach said she would like to see new ordinances that could have prevented this problem, and maybe spare residents in the future. However, Peaco said it would be “very difficult to write an ordinance to protect her.”He said between the age of the house and its proximity to the road, the situation with the Roach house is unique.Additionally, there are numerous restrictions on what ordinances municipalities can pass, particularly when it comes to zoning and planning.“Maybe some additional language could be included, but we would have to get an engineering and legal opinions,” Peaco said. “If you tighten regulations too much you could devalue property and be subjected to legal action.”Roach also mentioned this problem and recognized that it's a major hurdle to changing the way things are.Peaco said balancing the needs and desires of residents and developers has become a major challenge throughout the area.He said that he and many other area officials are always looking for ways to make development easier on residents while keeping within the required legal parameters and maintaining the rights of developers.“These types of problems are not confined to just Adams Township. I frequently talk to neighboring municipality folks and they have the same kinds of problems,” he said. “We are looking to make it better and if one of my neighbors (Cranberry, Pine, etc.) has a good idea we run with, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.”Ultimately, officials told Roach that she would have to work these issues out with the developer or hire a civil attorney, something she said she is loathe to do.“To tell me I would have to seek civil litigation, I think is totally inappropriate on the part of the supervisors and the township,” Roach said. “And I'm just an individual. Even the EPA woman said 'you're going to have to seek civil litigation.' And I said to the woman on the phone, 'I don't have that kind of money.'”For now, the Roach family has the verbal assurances of the developer that he would fix the damage, she said. Roach said she's not against development in the township, but she hopes officials can find a way to protect residents while providing space for growth and progress.“With development, I'm all for progress.” she said. “I have four growing kids who are all for progress. You move ahead you get better. Go ahead and build. But don't disregard the history and the people who are already here.”
