Mount Dora homeowners await repairs to severe drainage washouts

The clock's ticking for a Mount Dora developer after months of neighborhood washouts. Today is the deadline to present a plan to fix severe drainage problems in the Summerbrook community. Fox 35's Hannah McKenzie is joining us live from there tonight. So, Hannah, has anything been fixed? Well, Luann, you actually might remember when I was out here last year, I measured the hole behind me here. Back then, it was 16 feet by 4 feet. The goal today was to come out and measure again, do the same thing, see if it's grown. But even if it didn't have this safety netting here, you can tell by the overgrowth that would have been pretty difficult to do. Stuck between a retaining wall and a developer. One year after a rainstorm led to washouts in Mount Dora's Summerbrook neighborhood, no repairs in sight. Comparing our Skyfox drone footage Thursday from what we got last year, the only differences we can see is the addition of these bright orange safety fences, We can't even tell if the washouts are worse because the weeds are so high. Back on the ground, a notice of violation. Mount Dora's building department deeming the 10-foot retaining walls on both Chacal Loop and Natoma Boulevard unsafe. I'm worried about the foundation of my home. Every rainstorm, every potential hurricane or tropical storm that's out there, every single day, that is a worry. The smaller of the washouts sits in Erin Conlon's backyard. She's worried the retaining wall will fail, sending her and her neighbor's homes sliding. Conlon says the developer, Park Square Homes, needs to step up. My hope is that they are held accountable for the walls that they put up. We reached out to Park Square Homes multiple times. No one responded. But last year, they told us even though the walls are on private property and erosion or washout should be the responsibility of the lot owner, Park Square Homes and the HOA are working to address the situation. Conlon says that's not the case, at least according to the original documents. So it was not specified in the bylaws at all. They then amended the governing documents in March, days before a turnover, to say all of the retaining walls are common property. And instead of them still fixing this, they left it to the HOA for the homeowners to basically foot that bill. An attorney representing the neighborhood's HOA declined to comment. I also reached out to the city of Mount Dora. They sent me this findings of fact document, adding they've ordered the identified violations be corrected by December 30th and will continue to monitor progress and take appropriate enforcement action as necessary to ensure the violations are addressed. The St. Johns River Water Management District also getting back to me, sending me a copy of the compliance assistance offer they issued to Park Square Homes after finding the developer in violation of permit compliance and maintenance. They gave them until September 8th to comply the developer requesting an extension with a new deadline of October 15th and of course October 15th that is today so two deadlines looming for two of the parties involved in the situation from two different entities so Park Square Homes misses the deadline today I'm told that the water management district will move forward with formal enforcement proceedings and if the neighborhood misses the city's deadline of December 30th I'm told the The neighborhood will then be fined $250 per day for the violations until they are in compliance. So a lot to see what works out with this one. Of course, we'll stay on top of it for you. Live in Mount Dora, Hannah McKenzie, Fox 35 News.