Amherst, NY - Excerpts from Sinking Home Articles

The Buffalo News is doing an excellent job covering the plight of Amherst homeowners affected by sinking homes. The articles excerpted(below) provide a brief history.

More articles are available at the Buffalo News web site.

Excerpts from "Amherst residents look for help in soil report on sinking homes"
By THOMAS J. DOLAN- Buffalo News Northtowns Bureau - 2/10/2005

Amherst, NY- Residents desperate for help are pinning their hopes on a report scheduled for release in May 2005 from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is finishing a yearlong study of the town's soils. But Corps officials say their report will not offer homeowners any immediate relief.

The financial cost of the problem is measured in millions of dollars. The human toll is impossible to calculate.

Tales about Amherst's sinking homes surfaced in the late 1990s in the Pines East neighborhood, where homeowners formed groups to talk about the problems.

In early December 2002, The Buffalo News reported that some homeowners were paying up to $60,000 for repairs. A few days later, nearly 100 people showed up at a Town Hall meeting and offered personal accounts that shocked officials.

Recently, Army Corps spokesmen said their final report will not identify a single cause for all of the damaged homes.

While many of the homes studied appear to have inadequately designed foundations, most of the sites also have other conditions that could be causing homes to crack and sink, according to Brad Guay, technical manager of the study team.

The report is expected to say the number of damaged homes is greater than earlier estimates and that extensive areas of the town have problem soils, including some that expand and contract depending on moisture. Others are so soft that they have the consistency of smooth peanut butter.

Thus, the Army Corps report will not offer easy or conclusive answers for Amherst's damaged homes because each one will likely require its own remedies, spokesmen say.

Some homeowners have repaired their homes and seem to have put their problems behind them. And there are other encouraging signs: a not-for-profit corporation being formed to administer possible financial aid for residents; new technology to help combat buckling foundations; a town task force formed to oversee aid for victims and possible remedies for homeowners; a new building code requiring soil testing and stronger basement walls, and more.

Then there's Amherst's strong housing market. Despite early fears that publicizing the sinking homes might cause home values to collapse, the town's property values are climbing, even in some of the most affected areas.

But, at the other end of the spectrum, some beleaguered homeowners have simply surrendered, abandoning homes and mortgages. "This has been the most miserable year of my life. Words can't describe how I feel," former Getzville-area resident Robert Rodriguez said. Over the past two years, Rodriguez has had to endure the pain of abandoning his home as well as losing his wife and children to separation. "She loved that house. She had to get away from the area," he said. "The house took a big toll on her." Facing repair bills that added up to more than $100,000, Rodriguez reluctantly decided to default on his mortgage. "I felt bad. We tried hard, but we had no choice," he said.

Others say banks refuse to deal with them after learning their homes are damaged.

Housing problems are nothing new for Sandy and Roy Mussell, who live off Casey Road in East Amherst in a house built about 20 years ago. Shortly after moving into their house, the couple began complaining to the builder about foundation problems, which now include basement walls that move in and out depending on the season.

The Army Corps of Engineers team found three major problems, including a heaving basement floor, foundation walls that are being pushed in and parts of the house that are sinking. The couple produced records showing they had reported the basement cracks to the town in 1987, three years after the house was built.

By THOMAS J. DOLAN,SUSAN SCHULMAN and DEIDRE WILLIAMS

For more than three decades, Amherst was primed to grow. First came tens of millions of government dollars for roads, sewers and other facilities. Next came people - thousands of Buffalo residents looking for a new life in the suburbs. Town leaders, eager for Amherst to expand, threw open the doors for developers, who used the new roads and sewers to build housing tracts such as Audubon New Community, Ransom Oaks and the Pines.

But a Buffalo News investigation shows that developers and town officials had information the new homeowners didn't: They were building on unstable soil.

The federal government's soil scientists were telling Amherst and its developers about the hazards since the late 1960s. Throughout the period when the town grew from a bedroom suburb of 62,837 people to the fourth-largest community in upstate New York, federal soil experts repeated and published their warnings that large areas of Amherst contained silty, clay-laden soils that posed "severe limitations" for home building.

Many of the warnings were sent to town officials and developers on specific projects. Other warnings are included in a soil survey released to officials in the 1970s and formally published in the 1980s.

"The soil survey is clear about the potential for problems in all these soils," said John R. Whitney of the Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"The problem is, none of them ever read the (soil) report," said John P. Wulforst, a co-author of the federal survey.

Today, those warnings have come true in some areas of the town. Houses are sinking. Foundations are cracking. Walls are collapsing. Gas lines are snapping. And hundreds of homeowners watch as their savings are drained and their futures are mortgaged on houses that may not be worth the money some are investing in them.

At least 501 Amherst residents have reported problems with their home foundations or made repairs, The News has found. More than $2.2 million has been spent on foundation repairs since 1996. Residents also report that at least another $2.5 million is needed for outstanding repairs.

Town officials and developers say they were aware of the soil study, but also acknowledge it was never taken to heart. Still, they claim nobody could have predicted what is now occurring.

"People want to find some scapegoat," said Amherst Building Commissioner Thomas C. Ketchum. "They're applying hindsight. Hindsight is 20/20. . . . We probably should have approached it in a different manner." But until recently, the town wasn't aware of any problems, so it didn't seem necessary to upgrade Amherst's building requirements, Ketchum said.

Builders said they take their cues from the town. Because they were complying with state building codes, which Amherst follows, builders say they were satisfied their construction would be solid, regardless of the soil study.

"People are generally familiar (with the soil study, but) builders build to the codes," said Joseph W. McIvor, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association. "I don't think anyone wants to build a house they think will fall down."

The News reviewed federal, state and local documents regarding Amherst's housing developments and soils, and analyzed data from 501 homes with foundation damage since 1996. The News found that virtually all of the homes reporting problems were built in locations classified by the federal soil report as having "serious limitations" for home construction because of their prolonged wetness.

* Foundation problems are more widespread than officials have acknowledged, with clusters in several neighborhoods, generally north of Sheridan Drive. Snyder and the Village of Williamsville are among the few neighborhoods that escape the problem.

* While public attention has focused on homes with sinking foundations, a greater number of homeowners appear to have a different but related problem - basement walls that buckle and often threaten to collapse because of pressure from underground water.

* Problem soils cover more than 15,000 acres of middle and northern Amherst, but until recently, the town did not require soil tests for new homes or subdivisions. Instead, developers and their engineers were allowed to "presume" soils were suitable based on conditions found during excavations for sewers and basements.

* Despite the potential hazards, no reinforcements or other special designs were required for basements in problem areas. Standard 8-inch-thick foundations were allowed. Officials also permitted homes with basements in areas where soil experts warned that no basements should be permitted.

* Three-fourths of the 501 homes with foundation problems were built between 1960 and the mid-1980s, with the average house being 34 years old when the repair work was done.

* Damages appear to be accelerating and affecting more homes. The number of permits issued for home foundation repairs has more than tripled in the past four years, from 19 in 1998 to 34 in 2000 and 73 in 2002; and repair costs have increased fivefold during the period.

* For some homeowners, the cost to repair the damages can outstrip the value of the home. Repair bills ranged from a few thousand dollars to estimates of $100,000 or more, while the average market value of homes in the study is $130,000.

* The same soils creating problems in Amherst can be found elsewhere in the region, particularly in northern and central Erie County and southern Niagara County. The only other community reporting housing problems is Grand Island.

Grand Island officials have said as many as 10 homes have foundation problems resembling those in Amherst. They include foundations that are sinking as well as those with bowing walls.

Despite The News' findings, the real numbers of damage cases are likely to be larger in Amherst, because the study could not account for residents who made repairs without applying for town permits, and those who are reluctant to acknowledge their damage.

What's more, some experts predict that cracking foundations will continue to be a problem for some area homeowners, particularly in newer homes where residents are not yet reporting damages. "My perception is . . . 10 to 15 years from now, there will be big problems unless steps are taken," said structural engineer Marco Scofidio, who has worked on foundation problems in Amherst for the past five years.

Homeowners see problems

Rob Schwartz and his family moved into the Brush Creek subdivision off Maple Road in 1995. From the onset, Schwartz noticed cracks in the 18-year-old house, but thought little of it. Even when the foundation walls starting bowing in, he viewed it as normal settling. "We just dealt with it," he said. Then, last summer, Schwartz noticed the brick archway on the front porch had pulled away from the house, and a gap three-fourths of an inch wide had opened around the windows and door. "Everybody says, "You are living in a swamp,' " Schwartz said. "We all joked. Now we know what it meant."

Facing college expenses for two sons, Schwartz said he borrowed money from his retirement account to help meet a $37,000 bill for installing 22 piers - steel posts attaching the house to bedrock as an anchor. The home is assessed at $140,000.

About five years ago, Darlene Torbenson and her family were preparing to go away for the Labor Day weekend when they heard a noise in their East Amherst house. "It sounded like a boom. We thought a tree had fallen on the property," she said. They searched the house and found nothing amiss. But when they returned from the trip, Torbenson's husband discovered large cracks in the basement floor and foundation walls. One was so wide that she could stick her fingers into it. Now the cracks have grown worse and the house has moved so much that the family had to replace a sewer line and water line, while contending with several natural gas line leaks.

Construction estimates come to $65,000 to stabilize the house and tens of thousands of dollars more to repair the cracks, she said. The house is assessed at $130,000. "When this happens to you, it's a life-altering financial event. . . . You're watching your house deconstruct, and we have to pay for it," she said. She says this shouldn't have happened. "Developers were given carte blanche," Torbenson said.

The home Karen and Dr. Charles Narasi bought in 1979, not far from the Torbensons, developed a 6-inch crack in the family room a couple of years ago. They could see the sky through it. "Not just a light, but the whole sky," Charles Narasi said. "On the other side of the room, we saw into the garage. The house had split on both sides." "You don't expect your house to crumble," added Karen Narasi. The Narasis have paid $44,000 for repairs, but work on the house - assessed at $156,000 - remains only partly done. They have five grown children, one still in college. "We could only afford that much," Karen Narasi said.

Full-bore development

All levels of government - from Town Hall to the nation's capital - helped spur growth in Amherst, a town that now has more than 117,000 residents and 33,000 owner-occupied homes. Along with other aid, federal and state agencies helped finance sewers, a treatment plant and roads that acted as a magnet for development.

The state also built the new North Campus of the University at Buffalo and the Audubon New Community, developed by the Urban Development Corp. with help from federal housing officials.

Even some federal soil experts lent a hand, advising developers and Amherst officials on their plans to develop areas with problem soils. For instance, records show district conservationist Douglas J. Dettenrieder advised town planners in 1977 that part of the Audubon site contained Lakemont, a soil type severely limited for development because it remains water-soaked during some seasons. But, Dettenrieder added, "The plan calls for raising the structures several feet above grade. This should overcome the wetness problem if no basements are installed and good surface drainage is provided."

Despite the warning, Amherst allowed homes with basements in other areas of Lakemont soil, and at least 43 have reported foundation problems, The News found.

Proper planning needed

Still, Whitney and others say development - while difficult - is not impossible in these soils.

"It's not that you can't build on these soils," Whitney said, "but you have to do a lot of investigation of the soil, performing tests where the houses are to be built, and then designing the foundations to suit the soil conditions."

Scofidio agrees. "As a professional and structural engineer, you can build a home in any type of soil, in Alaska on permafrost. It has to be designed properly. The poorer the soil, the higher the cost, but you can do it," Scofidio said. In Amherst, builders dealt with the town's soggy soils with drainage systems and sump pumps. The town didn't require foundation upgrades. "Builders took standard foundation (designs) for good soil and put them in weak soils," Scofidio said.

Today, some soil scientists believe the constant drainage in densely developed areas contributed to the problem, drying and compressing soils, causing basements to sink.

Ketchum, who has worked in town government since the 1970s, spoke of the town's pro-development position over the years, and said there would have been no support in the past for tougher building codes - driving up housing costs - because there was no known problem. "As long as I have known it, Amherst has been a very pro-development town. The political climate was to encourage development," he said.

In fact, Amherst was so intent on building that it encouraged housing developments in government-regulated wetlands, and flood plains. Also, Amherst is one of only two communities in New York State with a special federal exemption allowing it to build houses with basements in flood plains. The other is neighboring Clarence. However, Clarence officials require soil tests and special designs for site conditions, including reinforced foundations in flood plains.

Zeal to develop

An example of Amherst's zeal to expand, even into marginal areas, involved the "basement exemption."

In May 1977, then-Amherst Supervisor John R. Sharpe appealed to federal officials to exempt the town from a new federal regulation that effectively banned the building of homes with basements in the 100-year flood plain. Amherst claimed the flood plain land was needed for new homes, and developers and town officials have long insisted the public won't buy homes without basements.

According to Sharpe, the new rule posed "a severe hardship," in part because state and federal officials had required Amherst to invest in a new sewer plant large enough to serve 220,000 people - more than twice Amherst's population at the time. Amherst would "go bankrupt" paying for the larger plant unless it was allowed to attract more residents by building housing in the flood plains, Sharpe told federal officials at an April 1978 meeting.

Following a vigorous lobbying campaign by town officials and some private developers, federal housing officials agreed in November 1978 to exempt Amherst from the basement regulation. As a result, more than 1,900 homes have been built in the Amherst flood plain, some of which are now experiencing foundation problems.

"That problem (of Amherst's damaged foundations) has been around forever," said Sharpe, reached at his retirement home in Florida. However, Sharpe said he has "no idea of what's causing it." As far as he's concerned, Amherst dealt properly with developers during his term in office, Sharpe also said. "I've been gone for 13 years, and I'm not going to get involved in it," he added.

Please note: Homeowners already have spent more than $2 million making repairs to their homes and garages in Amherst. New homes will be required to have more secure foundations to prevent such problems.

The Vogels used to love coming home to the house they bought in the Ransom Oaks subdivision of Amherst just 15 months ago. That was before the kitchen cabinets broke away from the wall. Before the front and back doors shifted from their frames. Before a network of cracks outlined the family room, and before the linoleum in the foyer buckled, exposing a hole in the concrete floor wide enough to poke an index finger through. Now, instead of being a refuge, home has become a place of sorrow for Michele and John Vogel. It is like that for hundreds of other Amherst residents whose home's foundations have begun to break up.

The promise that lured them to Amherst is being blotted out by huge repair bills, constant anxiety and stresses that eat at them and their beloved homes. "We called in a foundation specialist, and he said the house is sinking and it would be $40,000 to $70,00 to fix," Michele Vogel said. Their house is valued at $125,000. "We're a young couple," she said. "We cannot afford it. We're not rich people. We are just basic people trying to make a good life for our family."

At least 500 Amherst homeowners have reported problems with their foundations since 1986, The Buffalo News has discovered, and those people have spent more than $2.2 million on repairs and are facing an estimated $2.5 million in work that still is needed. Amherst has about 33,000 owner-occupied homes.

What residents want "is to be financially whole again," said Darlene Torbenson, of East Amherst, who has spoken on behalf of homeowners experiencing severe basement and foundation damage. "No one told us our house was built on wetland and substandard soil. . . . This wasn't a problem we caused."

But for now, no one is ready to step in to make that possible. Insurance companies are saying the problems are not covered under homeowner policies. The federal government says Amherst is too wealthy a community to qualify for grants. Developers say they don't bear any responsibility. And Amherst government officials say the town does not bear any responsibility, adding that the town doesn't have the financial resources to help the homeowners.

"Amherst can't do it alone," Supervisor Susan J. Grelick said. "The town isn't capable of coming up with millions of dollars. We don't have the money. We would be incapable of bonding all the monies that would be needed." That leaves the Vogels and others on their own. And as the word spreads, many fear the town's reputation is at stake.

"We are very worried about what it will do to the overall assessments," said Grelick. "We don't want to belittle homeowners with real problems," Grelick added. "We are really sympathetic. But it is important to acknowledge the overwhelming majority (of Amherst homes) don't have foundation problems."

Realtors say it's too early to know the impact the foundation problems are having on the town's valuable real estate, but there is growing concern. "The entire marketplace is on the brink," said Joseph W. Mc-
Ivor, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association. "Everyone is looking at their house, and saying, "Is my foundation going to have a problem?' Everyone is looking at the economic ramifications," he said.

In addition, to assure homeowners that new houses won't sink or collapse, the town promises all new construction will meet stiffer building codes. A building moratorium does not appear to have much support. As for homeowners with existing problems, many hope that a study planned by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers will better explain the problem and enable the town to identify more economical repair methods. The town also says it continues looking for money from the state and federal governments.

What to do

With a 2-year-old son running around the house and another child, a daughter, due to be born in the next few weeks, Michele Vogel, a nurse, and her husband, John, a medical technician, don't know what they are going to do. The couple was told piers are needed every five or six feet around the perimeter of their house to secure the foundation to bedrock. They also will need a new floor and will have to redo the landscaping and deck, which will have to be removed to accommodate the piers, Michele said. "I was thinking maybe it would cost around $15,000," she said. "Fifteen thousand dollars we could do. Seventy thousand dollars, on the other hand, we can't." Like many families, the Vogels moved to Amherst for its good schools, safe streets and nice neighborhoods. Now, they are among the residents who say they are trapped. And while they try to figure what they will do, other couples are taking out loans or are delaying their retirement to pay for repairs.

Susan and Wayne Gage began noticing problems less than two years after they purchased their Ransom Oaks house in 1994. "Everything started splitting open," he said. "The front of the house dropped two inches. I had a gap where the wall of the house didn't go to the foundation. I could see outside." The Gages, who have three young children, had already spent thousands on improvements before getting a $21,000 bill for foundation repairs to the $140,000 house. The expense went on their charge card. "We were tapped out. We put it on the credit card," he said. "That could be tuition to one of my kids' colleges."

Retirement plans dashed

The Messingers also decided to get the repair work done. Patricia and Peter Messinger moved into the Pines 17 years ago, lured by a nice house and good schools. Now that the kids are grown, the Messingers had been thinking of retiring, but that was before being hit with a $50,000 repair bill on their 26-year-old home. "I planned to retire in four years," he said. "Can't do that now." Neither can Patrick and Pauline Briggs of Ransom Oaks, whose home also needed about $50,000 in foundation work. "We would like to move to Florida, but we have to work a few more years to pay for the repairs," she said. "Are we sorry we moved here?" asked her husband. "Yes."

Other towns take notice

Since the soil problem surfaced in Amherst, nearby communities started taking notice, particularly towns with the same potentially unstable soils. A swath of unstable soil extends from Grand Island to Newstead and into parts of Lancaster and Cheektowaga as well as southern Niagara County.

Grand Island, with its clay and sandy silt deposits, has identified 10 houses with sinking foundations and collapsing walls. "Nobody knew the issue existed until the problems occurred in Amherst," said Grand Island Supervisor Peter A. McMahon. The town will discuss the problem at a Thursday work session.

Lancaster officials, who are unaware of any foundation problems, acknowledge they don't know what soils are in the town, so they recently ordered soil maps.

Cheektowaga says it has a few trouble spots, including the north end of Walden Galleria, which was built on piers, and a subdivision in the middle of town currently under construction. The houses, being built on sandy soils, are getting reinforced foundations.

New state building code

That type of construction is routine now throughout the state, under a new building code that took effect Jan. 1. It requires soil tests on all residential development, similar to what has long been required for commercial development. Amherst officials insist the new code will ensure that future homes do not have the foundation issues some residents are now experiencing.

The extra foundation work should add $2,000 to $5,000 to the price of a new house, McIvor said.

That's a bargain compared with what some residents are paying to repair their sinking homes. Helical piers - steel rods that attach home to bedrock - cost as much as $2,000 each. Some homes need 20 to 30 of them. The remedy for bowing walls, an even more common problem, can involve adding steel to basement walls, a process that is typically much less costly.

A problem elsewhere

Such remedies are common in other parts of the country with foundation problems. Settlement problems are a way of life in southern Louisiana, where neighborhoods are built on Mississippi River flood plains composed of silt that settles and compacts with gravity. The solution there is to build houses on piers. Even with that, the sinking continues over a period of time, requiring residents to replace and repair the piers.

"This problem has been going on for hundreds of years," said Chris Bonura, City of New Or-
leans spokesman. "It's something you live with. It's sort of the price you pay."

Helical piers and deeper foundations are also used in Fairfax County, Va., where there has been a longtime problem with sinking homes. The problem there is a silty soil, known as marine clay, which shrinks and swells with even the slightest changes in weather.

Amherst Town Board members got a lecture and a warning Monday night from an East Amherst activist who has studied housing developments in flood plains and areas with problem soils.

Taking over a public hearing on a bond resolution, activist Colleen Bogdan spoke for nearly 30 minutes in opposition to building more homes in flood-prone areas. She backed up her comments with nine maps of the flood plains that cover most of northeast Amherst.

Bogdan, a citizen-researcher who also helped develop Amherst's policies on telecommunications and recreation trails, sternly warned Town Board members they cannot bow to pressures from developers when residents' welfare is at stake.

"Your only mandate under the law is to protect public safety and the environment," she said, adding that it would be "irresponsible and dangerous" for the town to adopt its proposed new master plan without more information about soil problems and flooding issues.

Bogdan directed her strongest comments to board members and other officials who she claims are ignoring the consequences of building dozens of housing developments in the flood plain. Even worse, she complained, Amherst is now considering plans to build more than 1,200 new homes in low-lying areas, despite the outcry from nearby residents who are experiencing severe structural damage because of poor soils.

"We have got to stop this willy-nilly, lunatic, piecemeal approach to storm water immediately. This town should not approve another parcel of development in the floodplain until these issues and risks are answered," she said.

� Declare a moratorium on housing developments in the flood plain north of Klein Road.

� Rethink Amherst's unusual federal exemption that permits the building of residential basements in the flood plain.

� Table the proposed new townwide master plan until an Army Corps of Engineers study of problems soils is completed and Amherst has an updated official flood plain map and a flood plain management plan.

She also castigated what she called "engineering and legal arrogance" that has led to such problems as the sinking homes. "This is the notion that we can engineer away or sue away all natural barriers to developments," she said.

"Look around, folks. How are we doing? Our fellow neighbors and friends (with structural problems) are suffering enormous economic and personal consequences due to past town failures," Bogdan added.

To illustrate, she showed maps indicating that intensive development in some areas of northeast Amherst has increased the size of the flood plain, taking in numerous houses that once were outside the flood prone areas.

Another map showed that a planned new subdivision off Smith Road is located on the same site where the town had proposed to create a retention pond to control storm waters.

Most board members listened quietly during the speech, with a couple of them offering an occasional comment.

"The policy of this government is really the policy of the developers," Council Member Daniel J. Ward complained.

However, Bogdan, who describes herself a "pro-development Republican," rejected the argument that the board cannot stand in the way of more new housing in marginal areas.

"That's not an appropriate response. . . . You can't keep saying that. . . . Public safety is your mandate. This is a public safety issue. . . . Fix it," she said.

Amherst residents with sinking and cracking foundations are organizing into groups to seek financial help, according to Council Member William L. Kindel, who has been working with the homeowners.

Publicity about the problems has hurt the town as a whole, according to Terry D. Moore, an Audubon community leader.

Homeowners in Audubon and other affected areas are considering the filing of class-action lawsuits, according to Moore and other leaders.

Groups of residents are forming in Audubon, Getzville, the Pines, Ransom Oaks, Wellington Woods and Willow Ridge.

Kindel said the group leaders plan to meet in March with area congressional representatives to discuss how they can help homeowners. He is asking officials for federal aid for residents who have already repaired damage to their homes, as well as for those who are planning to make repairs.

Estimates are that hundreds of homes have been damaged by unstable and sinking soil, in some cases causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage, losses not covered by most homeowners insurance policies.

As many as 30 percent of the homes in some areas are believed to be affected, according to some community leaders.

"The suffering (has) grown to the point that foundation problems (have) become a community problem," said Moore, a real estate broker. "It has damaged, to a great extent, all Amherst . . . since the very real possibility of more damaged basements in the affected areas . . . will undoubtedly result in fewer house sales and lower sale prices."

Neighborhood leaders urge residents with foundation problems to contact them. Kindel is asking homeowners to send him letters listing damage so the facts can be forwarded to federal officials.

Some Amherst homeowners are being forced to spend up to $60,000 to deal with basements that crack and floors and walls that sink and pull apart because of unstable soil under their neighborhoods.

Shoddy construction is apparently not the issue - in many cases, the problems are showing up as much as 20 years after construction in areas where price tags for homes run as high as $175,000.

Anguished homeowners have begun showing up at Town Board meetings and pleading for help. In most cases, the damage is not covered by insurance, owners say.

"You go into a basement and you see a main floor beam - a steel beam - that is bowed by several inches. . . . That's the scary part," said Council Member William L. Kindel.

One neighborhood leader said the problem appears to be caused by clay soil around the homes that acts like a sponge when wet but then shrinks during dry periods.

Kindel has called for a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the homeowners' plight and to explore whether local, state or national officials can help. Those invited to attend include representatives of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and other federal lawmakers, as well as Erie County and Amherst officials.

Cracking and sinking problems first began to surface last year in the Pines East subdivision near Transit and Casey roads. However, Kindel said homeowners recently also have been experiencing problems in an area near Millersport Highway and Campbell Boulevard.

Excerpts from News Articles

Amherst's Sinking Homes