Stouffville homes damaged by road construction: Residents
Councillor says he'll back neighbours in court

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 7, 2014
Sandra Bolan

Cracked walls and ceilings. Broken pool tiles. Tree limbs sheered off.

Those are just a few of the problems some homeowners along Ninth Line have been dealing with for the past two years, as the region re-aligns the road across Main Street.

“I don’t want any money. I just want (the region) to repair my house,” said resident Jim McCron.

Another area resident, Sandro Velocci, concurred.

“Everybody’s putting up a fight and passing the buck,” he said.

Salim Alibha, director of capital planning and delivery for York Region, told The Sun-Tribune the region has received complaints and “a couple of residents haven’t been happy with the response. We’re still talking to them.”

He said if residents are dissatisfied with the region, they should put in a claim with their home insurer or go to small claims court.

“I would support (the residents) 110 per cent. I would support them in court,” Councillor Rob Hargrave told The Sun-Tribune.

Prior to the start of construction, a contractor was hired to photograph the interior of homes in the construction zone. Some residents agreed to this, others did not, according to Alibha, which he said is part of the problem in their attempts to make a claim against the region.

In Velocci’s case, he purchased his home last year, in the midst of construction and does not know if the previous owners had photos taken or not.

Since moving in, Velocci said he spent roughly $100,000 on painting and other renovations.

Now, he has gaps in his windows and doors and two-thirds of the house has cracks, none of which was there before.

“They’re saying, no the house is settling. Using all kinds of excuses. … They’re saying wear and tear. Wear and tear in six months. They’re insulting my intelligence,” he said.

Velocci, 50, lives in the house with his wife and two children.

McCron, after first denying the contractors entry for the photographs, allowed them inside his home, but after the start of construction.

The former town council candidate has made claims to Bell and Enbridge, both companies, he said, denied them.

“I’ve given up on the region. I’ve given up on the town. I’m defeated,” McCron said.

“The town has to step up. We’re not talking about two different countries. We’re talking about the town of Stouffville and the region of York,” Hargrave said.

“The contractors need to be held accountable. To deny there hasn’t been a problem is ridiculous,” he said.

Hargrave was part of a meeting last week between Alibha, Whitchurch-Stouffville CAO Andrew McNeely and Mayor Wayne Emmerson.

“I won’t let this go,” Hargrave said.

The region will be comning back to the town Aug. 13 with an action plan, according to Hargrave.

McCron has gone ahead and spent thousands of dollars to fix the coping and cement around his in-ground pool.

But because the road and sidewalk have been re-graded to a higher level then before, people can now look into their back yard, something the family is not comfortable with. They have yet to use the pool this summer.

The privacy lattice, he said, is supposed to be fixed by the contractors. It has not.

“I’m just pissed off,” he said.