‘It’s a river’: Neighbors blame construction for runoff

CHARLOTTE — Crews are building new apartments on Regal Oaks Drive off Albemarle Road in east Charlotte.

William Huneycutt says there’s runoff and that it sometimes makes it to his home on Bonnybrook Lane, five houses away.

“It’s a river,” he said. “It’s been a nightmare. It’s been a nightmare.”

“The water’s just getting dumped on us,” he added. “When we get over an inch an hour, when we get those torrential downpours, that’s when we start seeing all the water.”

He complained to the city. “I’ve tried and tried and tried,” he told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke. “For what’s coming down here now, it’s not acceptable.”

The city told Stoogenke the developer isn’t doing anything wrong. It says the company has a stormwater plan like it’s supposed to, that the city signed off on it, and that the crews have been following it. Storm Water Services even says it checked out the site in person on Aug. 30 and “confirmed the developer is following the erosion control plan.”

The owner of the apartment site is listed as WCO East Side, which is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Action 9 reached out twice, including again on Thursday, but did not get a response in time for this report.

If this happens to you, no matter where you live:

- Contact the developer directly and do so in writing.

- Or if you prefer, start with the city or county you live in. In Charlotte, that would be Storm Water Services.

- You may want to ask to be reimbursed for any cleaning bills or damage, so save your receipts.

- If all else fails, you can always sue, but hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Not only does it take time, energy, and money, but you’d have to prove you suffered some damage.

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