TUSCALOOSA | The city has halted work on a housing development off Crescent Ridge Road because of alleged erosion control violations.
City Engineer Joe Robinson said the stop-work order was issued to Burns Construction on Friday because of violations at Jamestown Villas, a 90-unit garden home development under construction off Crescent Ridge Road.
He said the city is also checking on a claim that the Northport-based company violated the stop-work order, but had no further comment 'because of the possibility of court litigation.'
Jimmy Burns, owner of Burns Construction, could not be reached for comment Monday.
The City Council annexed the 23-acre site in October 2008 despite concerns that erosion could be a problem on the property. At the time, city staff members said the developer would have to mass grade the site, which could result in erosion.
The city had approved the development a year earlier, however, and the planning department determined that it would be unfair to deny the annexation because Burns had invested in the property after being led to believe it would be approved, and that he was taking steps to prevent erosion. The annexation was necessary because the project required connecting to the city's sanitary sewer system.
'Our engineering department has been working with the development since the start to work out a plan to try and reduce [the erosion],' said John McConnell, the city's deputy director of planning and economic development.
But John Wathen, who heads Friends of Hurricane Creek, an advocacy group for the protection of the creek and its watershed, claimed that work was being done on the property after the city issued the stop-work order.
'They were out there all weekend,' Wathen said, 'and they were still excavating as of Monday morning.'
The site at the intersection of Sixth Street and Vassie Drive is in the Hurricane Creek watershed and a tributary of the creek adjoins the property.
Wathen was among those who objected to the project when the city was considering the annexation.
Whether the activity Wathen witnessed was workers taking steps to prevent further erosion was unclear.
When Burns was seeking the annexation, the development's engineer, Jack McGuire, said Burns would build a detention pond and berms and take other measures to prevent erosion. And Burns said he would build the detention pond first, before disturbing any other soil on the property.
But Wathen said that whatever steps have been taken have not been enough to keep silt and runoff from entering Hurricane Creek.
On an Internet Web log, mudbuster.blogspot.com , he started, Wathen said he flew over the construction site on Aug. 27.
'From the air I could see silt fences down
with siltation leaving the site,' Wathen wrote. 'It was obvious that the conditions had been failing for some time due to the amount of mud seen outside the silt fences. ...
'I could see from the air that there appeared to be a large deposition of debris in the [Hurricane Creek tributary] itself.'
While it is likely that the recent heavy rains have exacerbated the problem, the Home Builders Association of Tuscaloosa said battling erosion is a constant problem, no matter the weather.
Rick Jarman, president of the association, said developers need extra time to repair fences damaged after heavy rainfalls, but it's not always Mother Nature causing the problems.
Sometimes, contractors will remove the fences to gain access and then simply not replace them.
'It's an ongoing problem,' Jarman said. 'As land gets higher and lots get smaller, you've got to get men in and out and materials in and out. ...
'It's a constant battle trying to keep them up.'
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.
He said the city is also checking on a claim that the Northport-based company violated the stop-work order, but had no further comment 'because of the possibility of court litigation.'
Jimmy Burns, owner of Burns Construction, could not be reached for comment Monday.
The City Council annexed the 23-acre site in October 2008 despite concerns that erosion could be a problem on the property. At the time, city staff members said the developer would have to mass grade the site, which could result in erosion.
The city had approved the development a year earlier, however, and the planning department determined that it would be unfair to deny the annexation because Burns had invested in the property after being led to believe it would be approved, and that he was taking steps to prevent erosion. The annexation was necessary because the project required connecting to the city's sanitary sewer system.
'Our engineering department has been working with the development since the start to work out a plan to try and reduce [the erosion],' said John McConnell, the city's deputy director of planning and economic development.
But John Wathen, who heads Friends of Hurricane Creek, an advocacy group for the protection of the creek and its watershed, claimed that work was being done on the property after the city issued the stop-work order.
'They were out there all weekend,' Wathen said, 'and they were still excavating as of Monday morning.'
The site at the intersection of Sixth Street and Vassie Drive is in the Hurricane Creek watershed and a tributary of the creek adjoins the property.
Wathen was among those who objected to the project when the city was considering the annexation.
Whether the activity Wathen witnessed was workers taking steps to prevent further erosion was unclear.
When Burns was seeking the annexation, the development's engineer, Jack McGuire, said Burns would build a detention pond and berms and take other measures to prevent erosion. And Burns said he would build the detention pond first, before disturbing any other soil on the property.
But Wathen said that whatever steps have been taken have not been enough to keep silt and runoff from entering Hurricane Creek.
On an Internet Web log, mudbuster.blogspot.com , he started, Wathen said he flew over the construction site on Aug. 27.
'From the air I could see silt fences down
with siltation leaving the site,' Wathen wrote. 'It was obvious that the conditions had been failing for some time due to the amount of mud seen outside the silt fences. ...
'I could see from the air that there appeared to be a large deposition of debris in the [Hurricane Creek tributary] itself.'
While it is likely that the recent heavy rains have exacerbated the problem, the Home Builders Association of Tuscaloosa said battling erosion is a constant problem, no matter the weather.
Rick Jarman, president of the association, said developers need extra time to repair fences damaged after heavy rainfalls, but it's not always Mother Nature causing the problems.
Sometimes, contractors will remove the fences to gain access and then simply not replace them.
'It's an ongoing problem,' Jarman said. 'As land gets higher and lots get smaller, you've got to get men in and out and materials in and out. ...
'It's a constant battle trying to keep them up.'
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.
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