Developer Declines to Meet with Landslide Victims

North Stafford, Va. — Landslide victims will not get their meeting with the developer of their property.

Richard Wolf with George H. Rucker Realty Corp., the developer of the Austin Ridge subdivision in North Stafford, says county officials asked him to meet with them and two families whose homes are threatened by a landslide that developed Sept. 10.

Wolf told PotomacLocal.com he declined the invitation to meet and declined to comment further.

Fire officials in Stafford continue to monitor the two homes in the 100 block of Brush Evered Court.

Homeowners met with county officials Friday – a meeting Wolf was not invited to attend – where they learned the county is not responsible for stabilizing the land which homeowners said has failed twice before prompting the need for a retaining wall that was built. Homeowners said the land has failed twice before and they now hold the land responsible for this latest land failure. 

In the meantime, officials have placed a fence around the condemned homes to prevent anyone from going near them until the land is stabilized, and are working to find financial assistance for the victims through Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management, said Stafford spokeswoman Cathy Vollbrecht.

Initial estimates to stabilize the land are feared to top more than $100,000, and the families have said insurance will not cover the costs. As engineers are still surveying the ground, no official repair estimates have been provided the families.

As the landslide gets closer to the homes, residents say time to save the structures is running out.

“The deck of our house was starting to sink, and the landslide itself had grown in size. Despite the fact that we are taking actions to save the homes, you can plainly see new cracks in the wall of the landslide, and you can see more cracks and settlement at the base of the hill,” stated Dan O’Leary in a press release, who lives in one of the affected homes.

On Saturday, he detached portions of his rear deck that are already falling into the hole behind his home.

A local church has set up a fund to help the landslide victims.

Still developing property in the area, George H. Rucker Realty Corp. is building Austin Ridge Shopping Center near the affected homes, at Austin Ridge Drive and Courthouse Road (Va. 630). It will include 250,000 square feet of retail space and room for a supermarket.

A community meeting to address residents’ questions about the landslide will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Austin Ridge Home Owners Association Building at 31 Boulder Drive. The families impacted and a county official are scheduled to be present.

A fund set up by a local church to date has collected $10,000 for the families affected by the landslide.