RINGGOLD, Ga. — Residents on Chestnut Ridge Drive said they were shocked, and now they are concerned, when deep fissures opened up in their yards.
“The opening of earth several feet deep across our back yards makes it look like a California earthquake,” Regina Belanger said. “Our deck looks like a roller coaster and the pool is partially collapsed and there are cracks in the foundation.”
Damage in the neighborhood near Holcomb Road and Georgia Highway 151 opened up within the past month, and property owners want to know why.
Mrs. Belanger and Susie Bates, a neighbor two houses away, said they wonder if the soil movement resulted from excavation two or three years ago at the base of the hill their houses are on.
Developer Jerry Hawthorne said his JR’s Land Co. office is among the structures built at the foot of the hill.
“We’re assessing the situation to determine the cause of the soil movement,” Mr. Hawthorne said.
He said he has been advised by his attorney, Alaric A. Henry, to direct any inquiries to the law offices of Luther-Anderson in Chattanooga. Mr. Henry could not be reached for comment.
Mrs. Bates said her husband has talked to Mr. Hawthorne.
“Jerry is working with us. He’s doing everything he can. He has lots of people looking into this, including engineers, surveyors and an insurance company,” she said. “There have been 10 or 12 people involved. They usually come in groups of three or four while checking the back yards.”
Mrs. Bates said they know Mr. Hawthorne can’t step in and instantly stop the problem when mother nature is involved. Meanwhile, she said her neighbors on each side of her house have moved out of their residences.
Mrs. Belanger said at a house three doors down from her, the kitchen wall of the house was leaning.
“That owner and my neighbor on the other side have moved out,” she said.
Mrs. Bates and Mrs. Belanger said their families a having the just wait and see what happens next.
