Developers Ordered to Correct Flaws in Project
Responding to complaints of shoddy workmanship, a Thousand Oaks City Council committee has ordered the developer of a low-income townhouse project to correct flaws uncovered by building inspectors.
The city has also decided to test noise levels at The Groves complex, which sits just 24 feet from the Ventura Freeway. And officials may force the developer to install double-paned windows if noise exceeds allowable levels.
The sanctions conclude a months-long city investigation into complaints by one Groves resident who has struggled to persuade the builder to take her concerns seriously.
The city became embroiled in the conflict between Chris Buckett and Groves builder Amcal Diversified Corp. largely because of its heavy financial commitment to the project.
In fact, Monday, as the city’s Housing Issues Committee ordered Amcal to correct construction problems, the city was extending its down payment assistance to residents who buy the 24 units left in the 91-unit project.
“Ethically, we are tied to this project,” said Mayor Jaime Zukowski, a committee member. “We are a partner in this, and we need to know what kind of product we are putting out there. If the city doesn’t check up on this, no one will.”
Amcal officials have consistently described complaints about the $14-million Groves project as minor. Nevertheless, they agreed this week to correct the problems rather than face possible loss of the city down payment subsidies and a reduction of city fees on each sale.
“If this is something that we have to do, then so be it,” said Percival Vaz, president of Westlake-based Amcal. “But my view is that far too much has been made of this than it deserves.”
Vaz said Amcal spent months trying to satisfy Buckett’s demands to repair her condominium. When they could not agree, Vaz said, she went on a crusade to find fault with the project.
“It really is unfair,” he said. “I think if you put any project under this kind of scrutiny, you’d be bound to find problems. But I maintain that our record will stand up to (that of) any other project in the city.”
City officials are careful not to overstate the problems, which they also say are mainly issues usually resolved by the owner and builder without outside intervention.
“Even with the issue of noise, as far as we can tell, the builder has complied with everything we have asked,” said Olav Hassel, housing service manager. “And it may be that if noise levels are too high, the city will have to pay to solve the problem.”
But for Buckett, 35, who has been out of work for 12 years due to a muscular disease, the struggle to find fulfillment in homeownership has lasted 11 months and has left her surrounded by stacks of paper.
She has collected reports, waded through research, written more than 100 letters and visited half a dozen city offices to try to persuade someone to confirm her complaints.
And while Buckett was not completely satisfied with the outcome of Monday’s meeting, she did count the committee decision as a victory. Finally, she said, Amcal will be forced to fix nagging problems such as electrical sockets that hang loose from her living room wall and nails that protrude from her kitchen floor.
Still, she said, the committee voted to hold off on a critical issue--installation of thicker window glass in units facing the freeway.
“For half a moment, I had a hope that maybe for Christmas I’d actually be able to sleep,” Buckett said.
Earlier this month, inspectors from the city’s code enforcement and planning offices toured The Groves and found 14 specific deficiencies, such as inadequate lighting, flaking drywall and missing bolts on staircase railings.
The deficiencies are not code violations, but are considered examples of poor workmanship, according to Buck O’Shea, the city’s building inspection supervisor.
And while top city officials said they are bothered by the quality of work at the city-backed project, their chief concern is freeway noise.
During the lengthy public hearings before construction began in 1991, opponents objected to building the project so close to the freeway. Noise was also one of the chief concerns of planning commissioners, who feared that the proximity to the freeway could jeopardize residents’ health.
Now that the project has been built, officials said they want to make certain that the measures taken to dampen noise, which included construction of a sound wall near Hampshire Road, were effective.
“I feel it’s important for the city . . . to review its policies and its performance,” Zukowski said. “We need to know what kind of housing we are providing and know if the finished product meets the standards we have set for this city.”
Zukowski proposed that the city test decibel levels inside and outside the project.
If the whoosh of passing cars is louder than 42 decibels--considered slightly louder than living room conversation--then new windows will have to be installed, she said.
“This is not a minor concern,” she added. “This kind of noise can have a serious impact on a person’s physical and mental health.”
The other major concern is the lack of disabled access to the project.
Billed in brochures as “thoughtfully designed for handicap access,” city inspectors said there is virtually no way for people in wheelchairs to get to the units on their own.
The project has no curb cuts, and none of the units can be reached without climbing a flight of stairs.
And, while the city concluded that the project is exempt from federal disabled access laws, some officials remained concerned.
“I just wonder why the curbs were not cut when it doesn’t seem as though that would cost them anything more,” committee member Linda Parks said.
John Ellis, a local activist for the disabled, said he has long criticized the city for not forcing The Groves to improve conditions for those in wheelchairs.
“The most disgraceful part of it is that they’ve got ramps in there, but the curbs in front of the ramps are not cut so people can’t get to them,” Ellis said.
Vaz said he did not know why curbs were not cut, but defended Amcal’s advertisement. He said Amcal spent more than $100,000 providing ramps and rails and the structural capability to install elevators to get to the townhouses.
“We have arranged it so that they can install elevators,” he said. “Normally, that would be extremely expensive, but now it can be done for $4,000 or $5,000.”
Yet, Ellis points out that The Groves is designated an affordable project, and that the city has some responsibility to ensure that it is not exclusive.
The condominiums, which sell for between $119,000 and $169,000, are underwritten by city subsidies of between $16,000 and $21,000 for low-income families. The subsidies are less for moderate-income families who also qualify, officials said. Four-person households that earn less than $46,320 a year are considered low income, while those that make less than $57,900 are moderate.
Vaz said he hopes that the fuss over the project will subside once he has answered Buckett’s concerns. He said his company wants to build a project that the community can be proud of, but he also has the burden of making it affordable.
“I don’t think it’s possible to design anything better given all of the constraints and still keep the pricing down,” he said.
