Citizens raise concerns about housing developer for Sedgwick Street site
Oct. 6—CUMBERLAND — Several area residents raised concerns Thursday about the builder selected by county officials to construct 100-110 homes on land formerly occupied by Allegany High School.
The meeting room inside the Allegany County Office Complex on Kelly Road was packed Thursday as residents voiced opposition to the county's selection of the Texas-based D.R. Horton Co. to construct the homes on 12 acres along Sedgwick Street.
Eight residents, all opposed to the selection of D.R. Horton, spoke during the public input portion of the regular meeting of the Allegany County Board of Commissioners.
"If the public is not proactively engaged meaningfully in decisionmaking, these investments will not return the yield we all hope for," said Max Green, a resident of Patterson Avenue.
"I think you really want to make this place to live one that (citizens) love like that parcel of land," said Yvonne Perret, a county resident.
A request for proposal was issued in April to find a builder to develop the land. Potential contractors asked for an extension and D.R. Horton was ultimately selected in mid-September from among three submissions. D.R. Horton, which has a satellite office in Edgewater, Maryland, is the largest residential home builder in the U.S.
However, the news of D.R. Horton's selection was not well received by the citizens attending the meeting.
Nancy Giunta, a Washington Street resident, said, "What due diligence was conducted when you chose this developer, D.R. Horton, who has a 1.4 out of 5 rating with consumer affairs and is involved in many lawsuits across the nation?"
"All you have to do is Google them like I did and you will see the results," said West Side resident Doug Schwab. "I found things like they are not reacting to complaints, shoddy construction, cheap materials, final walk-thru punch list was never complete, denied third-party home inspections, and everything goes wrong after the warranty expires."
Citizens also expressed concerns that not enough green space for yards, parklets or playgrounds would be included.
The plan is for 100-110 single family homes and cottage courts to be constructed at an average of $250,000 each. One resident said that the density on the 12-acre site would be about one home per tenth of an acre, which would seriously hamper room for sidewalks and green space.
County Commissioner Bill Atkinson defended the choice of D.R. Horton.
"We did do our due diligence," said Atkinson. "We just didn't pick this company out of a hat. We met with them and discussed what our needs are, where we need to be."
Several residents favored a proposal submitted by the nonprofit Live Together, Inc.
"They were unable to find enough financial backing for this project," said Atkinson. He said the nonprofit wanted to build and sell at a rate of one or two houses at a time, which would take more than a decade to build out the subdivision.
Caporale said Live Together, Inc. may be considered for other smaller housing developments in the future.
"We are looking at multiple sites," said Caporale, "We are looking at the Memorial Hospital site. This is just one piece."
Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.
