Residents claim demolition work damaged homes
This can't be good:
One by one, residents of Charleston's East Side neighborhood stood Wednesday evening to voice their complaints. It didn't matter if the homeowners lived on Cooper, America, Meeting or Sheppard streets, the complaints were all the same:
Their homes are old Charleston homes, but they didn't have cracks in the walls, shifts in the foundation or hardwood floor planks separated from the subfloor until after demolition of the two old CooperRiver bridges began in August.
It is a problem that residents farther up the Charleston peninsula encountered during the construction of the new CooperRiver bridge. And just like during that construction project, the city of Charleston now has stepped in to act as a mediator between the contractor and community residents who feel their homes have been damaged by nearby demolition work.
"I think these people have legitimate claims," Charleston Councilman James Lewis said. "And very few people are being compensated, whether when the new bridge went up or when the old bridges are being taken down."
Lewis joined several other council members and representatives from the Transportation Department and the demolition contractor at the East SideCommunity Center to hear the demolition-related complaints aired by residents.
To date, about a dozen claims have been received by the demolition contractor, the Jay Cashman Inc./Testa Corp. Transportation Department officials said about half the claims have been settled, the other half denied. The number of claims jumps to more than 75 if those filed during the construction of the ArthurRavenel Jr.Bridge are included.
State transportation officials agreed to revisit all claims and to report back to city officials within three weeks.
At that time, one-on-one meetings likely will be held between residents and state transportation officials.
The city's transportation director, Hernan Pena, will oversee the meeting. Pena played the same role during the RavenelBridge's construction. He said nine times out of 10, the claims were settled during the meetings.
Marvetta Daniels is one East Side resident who, so far, has been compensated.
"I had cracks everywhere, and like so many of you, I heard them tell me there was no way the demolition could be causing them," Daniels said. "You have to be persistent."
Studies were conducted by WPC, a local firm hired by the contractor, before the start of the demolition project to determine how much the ground could shake without damaging nearby homes.
Of the 70 structures examined, 68 were determined to be in poor condition. But no close examination of the structural integrity of the buildings has been conducted by an independent firm.
"It's a known fact that in the black community, we've been historically neglected," said City Councilman Wendell Gilliard said. "We're saying that we don't want that to be the case or to even look like that's the case (with this project)."
Leland Colvin, project director with the Transportation Department, suggested residents record when they notice new damage and what is going on, at that time, on the demolition project.
Last edited by James; 03-09-2006 at 11:04 AM..
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