Madison Erhardt
Andrea and Ryan Hilton say they have faced a number of issues with their home since they began building a neighboring settlement a few months ago.
The couple hoped to sell their home but had to take it off the market when they realized the foundations of their Richter estate were changing.
“We had to outsource a geotech from Vancouver just to look at this. The site next door had its own geotechnology, but obviously they stopped communicating with us about the problem. We had to outsource a geotech ourselves. It was immediately clear that he had seen the damage, “said Ryan Hilton.
The couple said they reached out to the developer on April 1 after the crews encountered groundwater.
“We noticed that the page was filling up. Little did they know it was groundwater. So they stopped working thinking they might have stumbled upon a pipe so they might have to come and dig the side of our house. It was probably five days the water stood while they tried to get it out. It was basically the same weekend that we noticed some shifts, “said Andrea Hilton.
After three visits to the house by the developer, the Hiltons stated that none of the crews had damaged their property.
The couple said they had also reached out to the city of Kelowna and were told they would not interfere because it was a quarrel between neighbors.
“The amount of everyday things we have to do with is horrific. Just last week we sprayed the whole side of our house with cement. Our terrace, our furniture, our fruit trees. We had stones made of dumped up all over the lot. That happened four weeks ago. We’re talking hundreds of stones, and [we] asked them to pick them up. “
The Hiltons say that construction sometimes starts at five in the morning.
“We really want some accountability from the developers. It seems like they’re walking around here, or at least this one, with all the disturbances and complaints we’ve had with them, there really doesn’t seem to be any consequence for them. “
“If you’re a neighbor stuck next to you, I really don’t want that to anyone. It’s not a good position in our position right now. It’s no longer a fun place to call home,” added Ryan Hilton.
Castanet has approached both the developer of the project and the City of Kelowna for comments.
