WORCESTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WLVT) - A Montgomery County woman is struggling to deal with property flooding she claims was caused by construction her neighbor performed and poor township oversight of that construction.
Karen Arena has lived in her home on Bethel Rd. for more than 20 years, but she said modifications on the property next door have left her yard and home a swampy mess.
“It’s diminished the quality of life,” Arena said. “I haven’t been able to enjoy my property. I can’t entertain here. I used to do dog rescue and my dogs were running in 6 to 9 inches of water and drinking it and urinating in it, and it was difficult. Then I started to get the smell of sewage in my house.”
The trouble began in 2001, Arena said, when her neighbor Michael Skalecki began adding additions to his 1,500 square foot ranch house, now a total of 5,000 square feet. The additions also included a gatehouse and the conversion of a straight gravel driveway into a curved, paved driveway that was raised 9 inches. Though Skalecki did receive a permit to build the home in 2001, the application didn’t have site plans and included only hand-drawn sketches of the proposed addition. The problem with that, Arena’s lawyer says, is that Skalecki should have known better. Skalecki is a professional home developer and runs two businesses, Knock on Wood Construction and Just Roofs. He did not respond to PBS39’s attempts to contact him.
“You have a current homeowner who is under attack by a developer, and this developer is also a neighbor,” said Donald Littman, Arena’s attorney. “They were absolutely aware of the restrictions that they were faced with.”
According to township building codes, builders need several permits to do this kind of work, including a demolition permit, earth disturbance permit and drainage permit. There’s no evidence that Skalecki obtained any of these permits.
“There are a bunch of ordinance violations that are right there in front of you,” Arena said.
As a result, the additions and specifically the new driveway changed the way water flowed through Arena’s property. In a letter dated April 12, 2010, Worcester Township Engineer Joe Nolan wrote that the Skalecki’s construction had created a “bowl effect,” trapping water on Arena’s property.
“It is clearly evident that a bowl effect has been created by the ongoing improvements to the property at 2023 Bethel Road (Skalecki property),” Nolan wrote. “The Skalecki property has been graded towards the Arena property and with recent improvement of the driveway along the north boundary of the Arena property, the water is essentially trapped, and flooding occurs.”
“So not only did they create a total obstruction to the way water flowed, but also created a problem to the way drainage occurred for both parcels,” Littman said.
Arena said she has spent nearly $80,000 in legal fees, excavations and sewage pumping. She filed a lawsuit against the Skaleckis, which is still pending. However, she is unlikely to recover any damages from it, as the Skaleckis appear to be having financial difficulties; they’ve been in
foreclosure proceedings for
several years.
Littman says Arena’s situation is part of a much larger problem: that the township allowed the Skaleckis to build the home without proper permits.
“The township here isn’t doing anything,” Littman said. “They see it, there’s complaints that Karen has made over years to the township to get them to do something.”
Pennsylvania has a
Uniform Construction Code for residential properties, but it’s up to individual municipalities to enforce it. That means levels of enforcement vary widely depending on where you live in the state.
“Why don’t we manage it better in Pennsylvania?” Littman asked.
Several state entities also have some authority to enforce certain building codes, but don’t appear to have stepped in for Karen Arena. Littman said he contacted the Department of Environmental Protection because of the environmental damage allegedly caused by the construction.
“This is causing an interference with stormwater management, erosion of the soil, and you have these trees clearly dying where they weren’t dying before,” Littman said. “You have trees that are suffering root rot. You have homes that are sinking.”
The DEP did not investigate. When Littman alerted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that water from the driveway was washing over the road, causing potholes and sheets of ice, they sent crews to assess the situation and repair the potholes.
“Unlike the DEP, PennDOT is concerned about the public safety,” Littman said.
Arena’s case should serve as a warning to all homeowners in the state who face construction near their homes, he added.
“When you have a community that’s not being protected by its local government, you have a community that’s not being protected by its state government, then what’s going to stop these developers from taking over? Nothing,” Littman said. “And that’s what’s occurred here.”
Now, Arena and Littman believe the township should be held responsible for not enforcing their own building ordinances.
“By their failure to do their duty, for them effectively allowing this to occur,” said Littman.
This failure, according to Littman, may have caused an inverse condemnation, when the government damages private property without paying for it.
“They have now taken Karen’s house and are obligated to now pay Karen the fair market value for her home as it was valued before they allowed this to occur,” he said.
PBS39 reached out to Worcester Township for comment; they did confirm the matter was under litigation and declined to comment further. Michael Skalecki did not respond to requests for comment via phone and email.
It appears Michael Skalecki is still violating other local ordinances, including zoning laws.
“Right now the developer is running their construction business out of their home so you have dump trucks, construction vehicles coming in and out of that driveway,” Littman said.
The home is located in a residential zone of the township.
Arena claimed Michael Skalecki and his wife have done other things to bother her, like blasting their car horn when doing down their driveway early in the morning. A surveillance camera owned by Arena captured three such incidents.
Arena no longer wants to live in Worcester Towship.
“It’s very stressful to live here anymore,” she said.
She said she wants the fair value of her home so that she can move to Florida to be with her mother.
“I want to move on. I really think the township should be held accountable,” Arena said.
