Questions And Answers About D.R. Horton Subdivision And City Inspections

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Last month, the City of Trenton voted to begin the process of annexing the 78 acres where D.R. Horton (DRH) plans to build a subdivision. Since then, the Sentinel gathered some questions from citizens, learned more about the city’s inspections department, and attempted to hear from DRH.

The Sentinel sent a list of questions (some of which were suggested by citizens) to Gil Milton, the land acquisitions representative from DRH who attended last month’s city commission meeting, but as of press time, we’ve not received a reply. The list was sent on Jan. 31, and a reminder followed on Feb. 6.

These are the questions:

• What caused D.R. Horton to have an interest in building in Dade County/Trenton?
• How did you conduct your market analysis to determine that there is/will be a market for the price range of $275,000-$325,000 in Dade? Since that price range takes our median income households out of the market, what income group is the target market?
• One citizen mentioned D.R. Horton homes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, asking, “Those homes were beautiful, well built, and sold for over $500,000. How will the quality of the homes you built in Dallas/Fort Worth differ from what you’ll build in Trenton?”
• There are countless reports and reviews online about the poor quality of D.R. Horton homes and customers’ difficulties getting answers from the company. Considering specifically these Yelp reviews (hyperlinked to www.yelp.com/biz/d-r-horton-sandy-springs) from Sandy Springs, GA, how can local customers be certain that they won’t face similar issues?
• Who/what companies will be the general contractor and subcontractors for the Trenton development?
• How much will the HOA fee be? What will be covered by the HOA?
• Regarding the following quote from this news report (hyperlinked to “Monthslong battle between Tuscaloosa residents and D.R. Horton continues” by WVTM13), what value does D.R. Horton bring to a community? “‘According to the national average, D.R. Horton builds their homes for about $70 a square foot less than a local builder,’” Ezell said. “‘So, if you have a house that’s worth $500,000 and then D.R. Horton comes in, now that house is worth $300,000 for the same square-foot house. You automatically lose value, and that becomes a problem when you go to sell your house.’”

As for Trenton’s inspections department, not much information is available on the city’s website. The only relevant portion of the Permits and Inspections page reads: “For new construction, you will be required to obtain an electrical permit from the Dade County Commission Office (706-657-4625) and in most cases a septic system permit from the Dade County Health Department (706-657-6181)…State permits concerning environmental issues may be obtained from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (770-387-4912).”

The website also has an application for building permits and one for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and gas permits.

To find out what exactly is involved in city inspections, the Sentinel sent a request to the city for all documents detailing the process city inspectors must follow, any sort of checklist they use when inspecting new construction, and whatever is in writing that describes what inspections in Trenton involves.

Ansel Smith (fire/building inspector) answered by sending the following examples of duties from the building inspector job description:

• Inspects construction work for which a building permit is required.
• Inspects new building, additions to and alterations of existing buildings for compliance with currently adopted editions of the International Building Code, International Mechanical Code, International Plumbing Code, International Residential Code, International Electrical Code, International Fire Code and Life Safety Code.
• Inspects building projects to ensure construction proceeds in accordance with plan approved with the building permit.
• Reads and interprets adopted codes, technical manuals, drawings, instructions, specifications as related to construction projects.
• Clearly notifies contractor of code violations with written compliance report at the time of inspection.
• Works with public at the permit counter and on the phone to answer basic code questions.
• May check that all required special inspections are performed and reviewed for completeness. May review testing data and reports for conformance specifications.
• Works with computer to schedule inspections and updates computer with results of inspections performed.
• Follows up to verify correction of violations are made and takes appropriate action to insure compliance.
• Reviews very basic plans for code compliance.
• Evaluates existing buildings, on a compliant basis, for hazardous conditions and initiates abatement procedures per the currently adopted Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings when warranted.
• Studies technical literature and attends meetings to keep current on applicable codes and code changes as they occur.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

As shown by the second item on the list, the focus of the inspections team is compliance with international codes which ensure homes don’t pose safety threats to inhabitants or neighbors. However, there is a lot of room for variance in the quality of homes even when these codes have been followed. Scrutinizing quality is not within the government’s purview and is left to the purchaser. After all, more codes mean less freedom.

Alex Case (mayor) touched on this in last week’s city commission meeting, saying, “We can regulate what level of construction things are built to code, but we cannot tell them what quality of products to put on their house, in their house. Quality of the work of the subs, how they put it up, and what style they put on is kind of like buying a car. You’ve got some that buy the nicest car, some that buy a good dependable, and some that buy something used.”

The areas that are under the city’s control are footers, framing, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing.

The Sentinel asked Case about two concerns mentioned by citizens: sewer infrastructure and roads (i.e. Sells Lane and Cedar Lane). It’s been well-documented that the sewer infrastructure is aging, and the city has been working to improve it over many years. Therefore, some have wondered how the system can handle the addition of a large subdivision.

The city’s engineers, Ladd Environmental, are assessing the feasibility of the DRH subdivision, and as Case told the Sentinel, “The more we sit here and look at it, the more sure we are that it can’t happen quick because we’ve got to get some engineering done.”

In the city meeting, Case said, “The plant can handle [the growth], but can our pump stations? That’s what we’re doing with studies now.”

For him, fixing the existing problems in the Lake Hills subdivision (see the Feb. 5 Sentinel) takes priority. “I want to fix what’s here now where people are living, and we’ll worry about the future when things calm down.”

Of the roads, Case said that Sells Lane and Cedar Lane will both need work and the portions inside the city will be paid for by the city. However, the city will wait until DRH construction is completed before repaving/widening the roads so that they don’t sustain damage from construction traffic.

Case said, “It’s a road that needs to be paved. It could be five or six more years before we do that because you’d rather do it after construction is nearly done.”

Throughout this discussion, he reiterated that many more steps must be completed before the DRH subdivision is a done deal. He said, “They still haven’t given us the final plans for us to approve everything. All we’ve done is start looking at annexing.”