Jim Morouse has watched as the bank has collapsed slowly behind his house on Stonewood Drive in the Wellington Hills development in Jacobus. As a precaution, he's put up yellow tape by his deteriorating hill as he awaits resolution with his developer. · E-mail photo · Order photo reprint (Paul Kuehnel - YDR)

His 2-year-old, $250,000 home in the Wellington Hills development is losing ground - literally - as the backyard hill falls away. His half-acre lot is several feet shorter than when his family moved in, and the slippage continues, Morouse said.

He has wrapped yellow caution tape around the remaining 5 or 6 feet of his backyard on Stonewood Drive to keep people off the deteriorating hill that pitches down to Nixon Drive.

Others in the new development near Nixon Park said they have lodged complaints with their builder, Keystone Custom Homes, without satisfactory results. They spoke of trouble getting the Lancaster County builder to make repairs.

The primary issues stem from unstable ground and rushing water.

Keystone president Jeff Rutt and Mike Cahill, the vice president of construction, responded to their critics in a recent interview.

"The complaints are something I do not understand," Cahill said. "How can individuals purchase lots with no issue and a year later report complaints?"

He slid across the table the zero defect statement Jim Morouse's wife, Nicole, signed at the June 28, 2004, settlement as an example.

Rutt said he realizes some residents have issues.

"We try to go over and above what is called for by the contract and local ordinances," Rutt said. "One of the

	Jim Morouse has a gauge to measure the gap between his front porch and house. · E-mail photo · Order photo reprint (Paul Kuehnel - YDR)

It's a challenging task to build 300 homes a year, he said.

"One of the things that helped us get to the place we have is taking care of our customers. Sometimes, I think we may go too far."

Losing ground

Two months after the Morouse family moved into their new home in July 2004, the yard began falling away, Morouse said. After about eight months of communication, Keystone wrote in a May 10, 2005, letter promising to install a retaining wall as soon as it finished the walls for two other residents.

Nothing happened.

Morouse fanned out diagrams, e-mails and correspondence on a table next to his driveway.

He hired an engineer who told him the hill and his driveway would fall away. The engineer estimated a retaining wall would cost $60,000. The engineer installed gauges to show the front porch was separating from the house.

Morouse pointed to a second-floor door with wood slats crosshatched over it. He had planned to put on a deck. The engineer advised against it, Morouse said, because there was not enough soil for solid footing.

Morouse hired attorney Leo Wallace.

Wallace pointed to an Oct. 17, 2005, letter from Keystone stating the builder did not want to put up a retaining wall.

"Any type of excavation on the rear of the lot

	Bill Brouwer talks about the steep slope behind his home on Woodland Drive. He said the lot he paid for had a gentle slope. He said Keystone Custom Homes built the retaining wall after the Brouwers complained about the steepness of the slope. · E-mail photo · Order photo reprint (Paul Kuehnel - YDR)

"I love the view," Morouse said gazing down at the horse farm across Nixon Drive. "That's why I paid the $11,000 premium for this $35,000 lot. When it's quiet, I can hear the stream."

They are now preparing for arbitration, Wallace said.

The family's contract with the builder mandates arbitration as the sole remedy for resolving disputes, Wallace said. And it is not cheap. It costs $950 to file the papers, plus lawyers fees and up to $2,000 a day for an arbitrator, he said.

"I just want them to take care of these problems," Morouse said. "That's all I want. Nothing else."

Steve Fulton, a professional engineer and geologist for ARM Group in Hershey, inspected the Morouse property for the developer.

Topsoil the developer placed and compacted to level the lot looks to be moving down the slope at the rear, Fulton said. But he did not see the expected bulge nor soil at the bottom of the hill.

Silt fences placed on the hill were doing their job - catching the soil while letting the water flow down, Cahill said.

Runoff from the development has caused a gully behind the Morouse driveway, Fulton said. A retaining wall is not necessarily the solution. Fulton said he wanted to consult with the engineer Morouse hired to help resolve the matter.

The separation of the front porch could be attributed to normal settling and the different expansion and contraction rates of cinderblock and concrete, Fulton said.

Rutt said that Keystone offered to repair the porch many times but that Morouse would not allow them to until they put in a retaining wall.

Seeking outside relief

Children played throughout the development on a recent morning, swinging in a tot lot, riding bicycles up and down hills, and playing with friends in driveways with watchful mothers nearby.

Matthew Manning of Old Mill Drive described his community as mainly young families who moved north from Maryland all bright-eyed and excited about owning a nice home at a reasonable price.

He said he bought a flat lot that sloped to the rear but ended up with huge swales.

"I was pretty adamant about things. $306,000 was a lot of money for us," Manning said. "We wanted a good home."

The lack of response to his calls and e-mails when he experienced problems with his lot and water in the basement led him to contact the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. Keystone subsequently dealt with his complaints and asked him to let the builders' association know of his satisfaction. Manning said he did.

Rushing runoff

Meanwhile, Cory Gorman of Old Mill Drive said runoff from his rear neighbors is washing away the 10- to 12-foot hill in his backyard. The runoff creates 5- to 6-foot-wide rivers on both sides of his $300,000 home. The kids across the street call the rushing water a waterfall, he said.

After many calls, Keystone finally told Gorman the hill is his responsibility, he said.

"They washed their hands of us," he said. "These are brand new yards. We moved from Maryland. We love it up here. We do not want our yard to turn into a swamp."

Cahill said many had complained about water coming across their yards, but the grades had to be designed to steer water into a sedimentation collection system before sending it into the stream.

"We don't know what else to do," Cahill said. Earthmovers transform slope

Bill Brouwer has lived two years on Woodland Drive. He said he and his wife paid for a lot with a gentle slope and a captivating view of woodlands.

Then, Keystone brought in large earthmovers to scoop away their land to build up other lots in the development, Brouwer said. He stood atop the steep hill recently that falls away from his backyard.

"They charged us a premium for our lot and then took half of our land," Brouwer said. "We knew we would have a slope, but not a cliff, and we have a cliff."

Keystone responded by installing what he called an ugly retaining wall.

"Every single one of these hills is dangerous," Brouwer said. "I think we were misled, deceived. They didn't deliver the house they promised."

Rutt said the lots on Woodland Drive did become "incrementally steeper."

When the contractors began grading the lots below and behind on Farmington Lane, they realized they needed more dirt and chipped into the slope.

It was an unavoidable adjustment, Cahill said. The company did not charge the Brouwers for the retaining wall.

The site was a challenge, Cahill said. His first thought when he stopped to check it out was the hill looked like a mountain.

A lot of earth was moved to create terraces for homes, he said.

"And we stabilized everything," Rutt added.

Cahill said Keystone takes pride in its work and attempts to resolve complaints in a timely manner.

Of about 100 homeowners in the completed development, fewer than 10 percent have had complaints, he said.