ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
AN ANGRY HOMEOWNER'S soil troubles prompted the sign in his yard - and a fine from the community association.
Swelling and shrinking soil around Jerry Warsing's home had already cost him tens of thousands of dollars, and now he has to pay for complaining about it.
Warsing, a homeowner in Chesterfield County's Brandermill community, paid an $820 fine Friday for a sign he posted in front of his house last year.
The sign that raised the ire of Brandermill's resident governing board read: ``Public notice. This is a shrink-swell soil damaged home. Our family wishes to thank Chesterfield County and the Commonwealth of Virginia for their concern. All Realtor, contractor and private citizens' inquiries are welcome.''
Warsing's house on Fox Chase Drive has $28,000 to $32,000 worth of damage due to shrink-swell soils, which expand and contract drastically as moisture in the ground varies. Warsing believes the sign was an expression of his constitutional right to free speech.
The Brandermill Community Association called it a violation of the subdivision's covenants against signs.
Last month, Warsing received a letter from the Brandermill association saying because the fine still hadn't been paid, an $820 lien would be filed against the property Monday if payment wasn't received by then.
Warsing feared the lien would jeopardize his mortgage, so Friday he paid the fine. But he wasn't happy.
``They fined me $820 to shut me up,'' Warsing said.
Greg Ailsworth, manager of the Brandermill Community Association, generally declined to comment, saying it was an internal matter.
``Virginia law allows [for] someone [who] violates covenants of a homeowners association [to] be fined $10 a day and interest,'' Ailsworth said. He estimated that Warsing's fine was for about 80 days of violations.
``Our point of view is the problem has been corrected,'' he said.
Bob Olsen, former chairman of the Chesterfield Housing Panel that examined the shrink-swell soil problem, said Brandermill's persistence in collecting the fine was part of an effort to make Chesterfield's shrink-swell soil controversy disappear.
``But the shrink-swell soil problem will never go away,'' Olsen said. ``Warsing and other homeowners whose homes were damaged by shoddy construction and shrink-swell soils are the forgotten victims, and they will not be silenced.''
The shrink-swell soil problem came to light in the fall of 1991 as residents went to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, one by one, with damage complaints.
In spring 1993, the county established a Citizens Assistance Program for homeowners, which provided damage reports by engineers but no reimbursement for repairs. By the following spring, nearly 600 homes were found to have damage related to the soils and/or shoddy construction.
Twenty-six landowners have taken the county to court, alleging that the county improperly approved building permits and did not enforce zoning regulations and building codes.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB