Pictures show how water hurts Hendersonville homes

By Marcela Creps
Diversity Institute Fellow

04.01.04

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For John Downs, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Instead of using his five minutes of allotted time to address Hendersonville's Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Downs distributed pictures of his house's water damage at Tuesday's meeting.

Downs was one of seven homeowners whose homes' drainage problems were brought to the attention of the board. Homeowners reported problems of wet crawl spaces and basements leading to mold and mildew. The group asked for the city's help.

Mayor Jim Fuqua said he is working on ordinances that would require developers to respond more promptly to homeowner complaints and train city workers to perform soil tests for future housing developments.

David Whitt, a city resident who has become a spokesman for the homeowners, said he believes the city has failed to enforce its code.

"The problem has been going on since 1986, because that's when we adopted the Code 406.1 that says if an area is likely to have compressive expansive soils [such as heavy clays that retain water and pools in crawl spaces] that the codes director shall require soil samples," Whitt said. "The codes director [Steve Mills] has never required a soils test since he has been a codes director." Mills was not present at the meeting.

Whitt said he first went to the city codes office in June 2003, a month after he moved into his house on Margaret Drive. His battle finally brought him to Tuesday's meeting, armed with a notebook full of research.

So far, he said he has documented 34 cases of homes with water problems involving 11 different subdivisions and 10 different builders. Whitt says the problem exists all over Hendersonville and should be addressed by the board.

Fuqua said the group has a valid complaint and acknowledged the city failed to classify soils as detailed as it could.

"We don't have the staff with the training to classify them so we are going to have to get the developers or builders to classify them when they file a building permit," Fuqua said.

Several aldermen agreed with the homeowners.

Alderman Jo Skidmore drew applause from the crowd as she related a story of water in her home and promised to do what she could to help.

"You all need to have some help because actually it stays right here," Skidmore said as she gestured to her heart.

But Alderman Jim Carmack asked why people like Whitt bought homes with these problems.

"If my house had been built to code, it doesn't matter what it (the ground) looked like," Whitt responded.

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