A group of York County residents are asking county officials for help to fix up their subdivision, which they say has been left unfinished by its developer.
The York County Board of Supervisors heard from eight Riverwalk Townes residents Tuesday who claim their development has missing streetlights, unclear parking, unsafe roads and unfinished drainage systems.
They told supervisors the developer, Gary Sheppard of Sheppard Hale & Associates, had halted work on the seven-year-long project.
Sheppard spoke during the board’s public comment period as well, explaining he has ordered contractors to stop working because the county had not reduced the surety bond it holds for the work already completed.
Construction on the townhomes off Old Williamsburg Road in Yorktown began in 2007 in multiple phases.
County Attorney Jim Barnett said all developers are required to sign an agreement with the county that states the developer promises to complete the subdivision as planned.
The developer then agrees to pay the county a surety bond, or security deposit, that is reduced when the county has inspected each completed phase.
Barnett said four of the five phases have been inspected, with corresponding funds from the surety bond reduced as work is finished. Three subphases have yet to be completed, with $42,000 of the surety bond left to be repaid to Sheppard.
The subdivision’s roads are maintained by the Riverwalk Townes homeowners association, Barnett said, which means the homeowners are responsible for maintaining all common areas, including the stormwater pond, drainage systems and streets.
The homeowners received control of the homeowners association from the developer in early 2014, but they claim it is still the developer’s responsibility to fix the issues in the street because the development is still unfinished.
“We want our homeowners to safely walk their dogs around brightly lit streets,” said Riverwalk Townes resident Stacy Luckado during the public comment portion of the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. “We want our children to walk to the bus stop under brightly lit streets. We want to deter criminals from violating our property under brightly lit streets.”
Other residents listed problems with people parking on the street due to missing “no parking” signs, unsafe trenches and drainage systems not cleared of construction.
Barnett, who has walked through the subdivision with the attorney representing the homeowners association and been in regular contact with Sheppard’s attorney, thinks the reason for the broken streetlights may be as simple as someone accidentally cutting a wire somewhere.
He said there are many unanswered questions regarding the issues homeowners listed Tuesday, and he and the county are working on gathering the facts on the case.
“Ultimately the real question is, for things that still need to be done out there, who’s responsible?” he said.
Sheppard could not be reached for comment before the publication of this article.
