Elaine O'Connor, The Province October 11, 2009 9:41
Fifteen years ago, Chilliwack resident Janet Hall and her husband Ross bought what seemed like the perfect home on a hill. But about five years ago, they noticed something amiss -- what first appeared to be normal settling began increasing and they and their neighbours realized their dream homes were sliding away. The Halls are among the 42 Chilliwack homeowners offered an $18-million city buyout because their homes are inching down the slope of a 4,000-year-old landslide.The city announced the deal Wednesday, following negotiations that began in late 2008 with owners in the Panorama Heights area of the Eastern Hillsides, who have seen their foundations crack, walls gape and joints twist."I'm certainly happy to see it come to a conclusion," Janet Hall said Saturday. "It's hard to be in limbo."
According to the city, staff and geotechnical experts have determined "infrastructure improvements" would "prove complex and costly, with little surety of arresting the ground movement."As an alternative, they are offering to purchase affected homes "at 80 per cent of appraised market value." The owners, after selling, can rent back their homes at 80 per cent of market rates. The Chilliwack Times reported 27 of 42 homeowners accepted the offer, which falls to 70 per cent of a home's value in 2013. Affected owners -- on Panorama Drive, Ridgeview Street, Ridgeview Place and Alliston Place -- still have the option of seeking redress in court.
Despite the offer, the city does not believe it is at fault for approving development in the area."From what we understand, nobody is at fault," Mayor Sharon Gaetz said Wednesday. "Generally it would be the engineer that would be on the hook and say it is safe to build there."But the company involved has since gone out of business. And the movement of the slide is limited to a few centimetres a year and occurs 30 metres below ground -- far past the threshold of geotechnical studies. The city was told that settling was the most prudent option. The mayor plans to try to recoup some of that cost from provincial or federal emergency management budgets. Although her initial requests for assistance were rebuffed, she will meet B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed Oct. 20.
Hall, who lives on Alliston Place, said she believed the cause is a natural disaster."At the end of the day we have homes we cannot sell. We're hardworking folks stuck in houses that are basically valueless now, through no fault of our own."
No comments:
Post a Comment