Sinkholes Plague Penn's Ridge Development

The aftermath of Hurricane Irene has left one Forks Township housing development with .

About 20 residents appeared before the township Thursday asking for help in resolving their sinkhole problems at the development off Kesslersville Road.

Since Penn’s Ridge is not owned by the township, the repairs will have to be done by Omega Homes, an Allentown-based developer. The development does not have a homeowners association.  

Supervisor C. David Howell said the township will try and assist the homeowners as much as they can.

Peg Dissinger of Omega Homes said the company is aware of the situation and the developer is working with the homeowners and township to resolve the matter.  

Mark Roberts, the township's Director of Public Works, said the area is prone to sinkholes.

“That whole area is broken up,” said Roberts. “They’re serious holes at this time.”

“Everywhere and anywhere in the township a sinkhole can pop up,” said Supervisor Erik Chuss. “It’s just the nature of the area.”

Pennsylvania is one of seven states that suffer the most damage from sinkholes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The other states are Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“If it isn’t a township problem then Omega doesn’t have to fix it and then we all wind up with giant pits in our back yards,” said Gillian Lane resident Jorne Walter.

Walter said he is concerned about children playing around the neighborhood.

“One of the residents has a 23-feet deep sinkhole,” said Walter. “That thing was really alarming.”

Maria Tatay of Jeanette Lane said she has had to repair the front of her property more than once. In April, Tatay said, repairs had to be done to the driveway, sidewalk and a portion of the street in front of her home.

“The street part was repaired by the township and the rest we had to pay for,” said Tatay. “Just this past weekend we have another big sinkhole on our property in the back this time, at least 15 feet.”

Tatay said other nearby properties also had sinkhole issues, causing decks to separate from the homes.  

Walter said the deck on his property has begun detaching from his home. Walter told the supervisors that the developer said a geologist would be out on Friday to assess properties. A meeting had been scheduled for Friday with the developer, homeowners and the township but that meeting was postponed, according to Roberts. 

Residents at the meeting did acknowledge that the developer had been out on Aug. 30 to investigate the matter.

Michael Tatay of Margaret Court said he has water pooling due to poor drainage in the back of his property.

“It’s affecting the values of the homes,” said Tatay. “It’s decreasing the value of the homes.”

Township Solicitor Karl Kline suggested that residents add sinkhole insurance onto their homeowner’s insurance policies as a safeguard against any future issues.

“Certainly when you have sinkholes like that it’s a very serious problem,” said Kline.