Abandoned housing developments
Real victims
A recent article about Summerville Homes left out the LLC at the end of the developer's name.
These limited liability companies are by definition structured so that their owners are not personally liable for debts or other business liabilities such as damages from lawsuits.
Let's look at the real victims of this story. The article mentions Bryron Kriewaldt. He is but one of the many subcontractors who have been left in the lurch by Summerville Homes LLC.
And what about the home-owners who have nowhere to turn for repairs to their homes and those of us that have to look at the properties daily with trash, 6-foot-tall weeds and unfinished homes on them?
Then there is the town of Summerville and Dorchester County. The property at Whispering Fields has the entire infrastructure in place, including roads, water, power and sewerage. My understanding is that developers must pay a fee to have the infrastructure in place before they build.
I wonder how much this fee really is and how much Summerville or Dorchester County taxpayers have shelled out to have this infrastructure sit without the return from potential home-owners paying utility bills to help defray the cost.
The abandoned property in Legend Oaks is only part of our concern. The other concern is the ability of the Dorchester County and Summerville councils to manage the fastest growing county in South Carolina. If this is what we can expect in the future, we may want to look elsewhere to call home.
Dorchester and Summerville councils need to look closely at what has happened here and look for developers that will seek cooperation with and give back to communities as Greenwood Communities and Resorts has throughout South Carolina, the way MeadWestvaco has from local residents for the future development of its properties or the way Norfolk Southern has by giving us green space to protect our natural resources.
We don't need another piecemeal approach to development or another company coming in and scooping up property, which it then abandons because sales projections fell short.
STEVEN CLARK
Coral Circle
Summerville
Protect public
A recent Post and Courier article titled "Economy claims new victims" describes problems new home-owners in various sections of our area are having with Summerville Homes LLC.
Many of the problems cited seem strikingly similar to those outlined in an earlier article concerning a different builder in Hidden River on the Ashley River, and similar to those being experienced at The Elms of Charleston and at Deer Ridge, a pleasant and attractive development for senior citizens in North Charleston, where Summerville Homes has attempted to expand through new-home construction over the last few years.
To the chagrin of most residents of this over-55 community, this builder has ceased construction efforts and left the site in an unsightly condition.
Ten partially completed homes are open to the elements and accessible to wild animals, vermin and unauthorized inhabitants. Vacant lots are overrun with weeds.
The builder has failed to maintain an effective line of communications with homeowners.
Throughout this entire country, there are laws, ordinances, rules, regulations and codes that have been established by local and state governments to protect consumers and communities from the kind of situations many of us face today in the Charleston area.
It is hard to understand how elected and appointed officials, as well as regulatory governmental departments in the greater Charleston area, can allow this kind of situation to develop and go uncorrected.
The public deserves better. The downturn in the housing market and the economy in general are not adequate excuses for these occurrences.
It is seemingly clear that some builders have over- extended themselves. It is not fair for new homeowners and communities to have to bear the brunt of a few developers' miscalculations and/or management problems.
In the interest of its readers, it would seem that continuing investigations into the operation and oversight of the home-building industry by The Post and Courier is warranted.
JOANN GEORGE
President, The Elms Homeowners Association
Tuscany Drive
North Charleston
KEN MALCHIODI
President, Deer Ridge Property Owners Association
Deer Ridge Lane
North Charleston
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