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Construction dust stirs up a storm

Some Brentwood homeowners complain that the dust blowing from the work site on a nearby golf course subdivision is leaving their homes and pools a gritty mess.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published March 23, 2006

LECANTO - The seemingly endless construction in central Citrus County teamed up with Mother Nature to spawn a small dust storm earlier this week, which in turn raised the ire of some residents whose expensive homes and swimming pools turned a tad grimy.

Residents along Brentwood Circle, who are just a long putt away from a large excavation for a new golf course subdivision, have been dealing with grimy swimming pools and dusty lanais for several months.

Among them are Rose Somma, whose swimming pool became so dirty earlier this week that she hired a pool cleaner to pressure-wash the deck, clean the filter and try to vacuum all the dirt off the bottom. She said the dirt would have stained the pool bottom had it not been removed quickly.

The dirt came from a new subdivision of golf course villas being built by the Citrus Hills development company, which also owns Brentwood.

A large tract of land is stripped bare, just a few feet away from the back yards of residents along Brentwood Circle. Most of the homes have swimming pools. A short black vinyl fence keeps water from running off the construction site, but does little to ward off the flying clouds of dust.

On Monday and Tuesday, strong winds whipped up a dust storm and residents say large clouds of dust wafted off the construction site and settled into their homes.

John Kunzer and his wife, Nikki, showed a Times reporter photos of the dust cloud and of the thick blanket of black dirt that accumulated around the drain of their swimming pool.

Kunzer, Somma and others criticized Citrus Hills developers for failing to protect their property during the construction phase. They said the developers should have been using water trucks to keep the dirt wet and preventing the dust from flying.

On Wednesday, Citrus Hills general counsel Eric D. Abel, who also is president of the Brentwood Property Owners Association, said he was aware of the problem and was working on a solution.

Abel said the water trucks had been on the site, but were pulled off to another location.

"We called the contractor, had some choice words with them, and they promised to bring the water trucks back as early as tomorrow," Abel said Wednesday. "People just have to understand that they're working with limited resources, meaning there are only so many water trucks, and they were apparently needed elsewhere."

He also said that Citrus Hills developers would review each homeowner's claims of pool or property damage on a case by case basis.

"And if it's caused by something we did, we'll pay for pressure-washing or pool cleaning," Abel said. "It's something that we do regularly."

Abel said the construction along Brentwood Circle is scheduled to be completed by late April.

"The thing about our construction here in Brentwood is that it's always done in such close proximity to other people's homes, and believe me, I know how much that can impact on them," he said.

Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313 or e-mail at sanchez@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 23, 2006, 02:15:42]