Impose meaningful sanctions on Treasure Coast developers who refuse to follow the rules

Even the horse racing industry gets it.

After two of Saffie Joseph Jr.'s horses died in preliminary races leading up to last weekend's Kentucky Derby, Joseph was suspended indefinitely and another horse he had been training was barred from participating in the first leg of the sport's famed Triple Crown.

The industry, which has come under attack for allegedly inhumane treatment of animals, acted swiftly and decisively to sanction someone who was in a position to cause further damage to creatures under his care.

Which got me wondering: Why can't our local governments on the Treasure Coast react in a similar fashion to protect their citizens from harm?

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I'm speaking in particular of a case in which D.R. Horton, a company that bills itself as "America's homebuilder," has apparently created drainage problems for neighboring properties through its preliminary work on a subdivision alternately known as Kanner Lake or Willow Pointe.

I've written about this situation a couple of times before, so I won't rehash all of the details. However, it's important to note that although Martin County government officials issued a stop-work order at the job site weeks ago, D.R. Horton hasn't fixed the problems it reportedly created.

Martin County officials have turned tight-lipped about what, if anything, they are doing to bring relief to the affected property owners along Green Lane and at Ronnie's RV Ranch & Mobile Home Park, on the outskirts of Stuart.

"While we’re in the middle of an administrative process, we’re unable to comment," Martha Ann Kneiss, the county's senior communications coordinator, wrote in an email.

Which leaves unanswered the question about what other steps they could be taking to bring D.R. Horton's project into compliance. Willow Pointe/Kanner Lake is far from the only D.R. Horton project located along the Treasure Coast.

On its website, the company has listed homes for sale in 18 subdivisions in the region, from Fellsmere to Jupiter. Pam Ouellette, a homeowner in Jensen Village, a community located off U.S. 1 near the Cracker Barrel restaurant, said D.R. Horton left a trail of complaints about shoddy construction in its wake after declaring work on the subdivision complete.

Ouellette said her homeowners' association has been trying to get nearly 200 issues addressed by the Texas-based homebuilder, so far without any luck.

"D.R. Horton has been a nightmare," Ouellette said. "D.R. Horton would not address those issues. They just move on. This is what they do. This seems to be their MO."

I've made numerous attempts to contact D.R. Horton through its communications office and its attorneys over the past several weeks, without receiving any response.

Meanwhile, the company has at least four other projects pending in Martin County: The Oaks in Palm City, Sabal Pointe in Jensen Beach, Sandpiper Square near Stuart and Preserves at Park Trace near Stuart.

So, why can't Martin County issue stop-work orders at all of D.R. Horton's projects until the problems at Kanner Lake/Willow Pointe are resolved?

Sarah Heard was the only one of the five Martin County commissioners to respond to that question, and she didn't seem too keen on the idea.

"I think that it is entirely appropriate for the county to issue stop work orders at the Willow Pointe site. The violations are apparent," Heard emailed me. "However, I don’t favor stop work orders for all of D.R. Horton projects. That would unfairly punish the laborers working on construction at the developments that are in compliance. And, it would harm and delay our residents who are eager to purchase and move into those new homes."

I understand Heard's point of view; I just don't agree with it.

Unless someone holds the company's feet to the fire and forces it to correct its past mistakes, what's to stop it from repeating the process with other homes it is building and selling now? If halting work at other job sites isn't a viable option, maybe imposing fines at the site where the violations occurred would be.

And if a mechanism doesn't exist in the county's laws that would allow for those steps to be taken, then commissioners ought to create one to deal with cases like this in the future.

The bottom line is, county officials should be using whatever leverage they can against a mammoth company that might otherwise view complaints at a couple of job sites as just the cost of doing business.

This isn't a pro-growth or anti-growth issue. It's a consumer protection issue.

Other local governments on the Treasure Coast ought to take note of what's happening here as well. If D.R. Horton isn't already building and selling homes in your community, that may change. And dollars-to-doughnuts there are other homebuilders out there that might need a little extra "encouragement" to do the right thing.

At least two residents living near Willow Pointe/Kanner Lake have reported health problems from mold they believe was caused by flooding from D.R. Horton's subdivision work. Local governments are supposed to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens.

A strategy used to protect horses ought to at least be considered to help human beings.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: D.R. Horton case illustrates the need for tougher developer sanctions