Fontana Tells Staff to Solve Tract’s Problems : Walnut Village: Council issues order to clean up violations after homeowners complained.

In an unusual move, the Fontana City Council has ordered the city staff to create a plan to remedy problems in a huge neighborhood where homeowners have complained about dozens of problems ranging from faulty electrical wiring to gang activity.

The vote was taken after a city-ordered report on the Walnut Village development found several problems attributable to two developers--Berry Development and Centennial Estates--and to city employees.

Walnut Village is a relatively new tract that has more than 1,000 homes.

The report found several violations of local building codes at the project, including clogged ventilation ducts, exposed electrical wiring and leaking bathroom fixtures.

The report said several buyers had liens placed on their property by contractors after the contractors weren’t paid by the developers.

Mary Slawson, the consultant who compiled the report, also said the neighborhood is plagued by pests, fire hazards, transients and gangs using vacant homes in the tract.

Slawson also said 10-foot-high piles of construction material were found on some vacant lots.

The report said some of the city building inspectors who checked out the homes had previously been employed by contractors who were working on the project, creating a conflict of interest.

The decision by the Fontana City Council is unusual because elected officials in most cities refuse to get directly involved in disputes between home buyers and developers. Instead, politicians usually rely on the courts to resolve such disputes.

“There are so many problems there that we have to do something,” said Fontana Mayor Nat Simon.

Ron White, president of Centennial, admitted that “there have been some problems with some homes” in Walnut Village.

However, he blamed Berry Development for the problems.

“We didn’t build the homes. We contracted with Berry to do the work,” White said.

“I don’t think the consultant’s report really differentiated between us and Berry,” White said. “I’m quite suprised that the report deals kind of lumps us together.”

Officials at Berry Development could not be reached for comment.

Although the homebuilders are responsible for some of the problems at Walnut Village, Simon said, “they can’t be blamed for everything.

“Some residents have complained about the noise from the (Rialto) airport about a mile away, and others have complained about a landfill a little north of the project,” Simon said. “The developers didn’t build those.”

Fontana and Rialto officials have reached an agreement aimed at reducing some of the airport noise, Simon said, while the operator of the landfill has agreed to put up barriers on windy days to keep trash from blowing into Walnut Village.

Simon said he didn’t know how Fontana’s city staff will decide to correct other problems cited by the homeowners.

One option, he said, is to refuse to issue future building permits to Berry, Centennial or any other company that doesn’t correct their deficiencies at the project.

“We’ve done that to other builders before, so we could do it again,” Simon said.