Majestic Hills developer facing federal lawsuit, new DEP order
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Bulldozers and trucks clear away earth from a hillside at Majestic Hills in North Strabane Township.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Bulldozers and trucks clear away earth from a hillside Thursday along Majestic Drive in North Strabane Township, where three homes were razed because of a landslide.
The Majestic Hills developer is the target of a federal lawsuit that seeks to hold the company and its owners liable for a series of problems plaguing the housing plan.
Northern Virginia-based builder NVR’s civil complaint, filed late last week in the Western District of Pennsylvania, is part of mounting legal troubles facing Joseph DeNardo, the Peters Township developer behind the pricey exurban neighborhood in North Strabane Township, where a series of landslides since June caused road closures and compelled township officials to condemn three houses.
On Thursday, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued an order against his company, Majestic Hills LLC, flagging alleged violations of a DEP-approved stormwater permit and post-construction stormwater management plan. The agency gave the company until Nov. 15 to bring the development into compliance.
“DEP is considering additional enforcement actions to achieve environmental compliance,” agency spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said in an email.
That order comes as township officials take steps to ensure the stabilization of the hillside on Bentwood Drive. Contractors hired by the township razed three condemned houses on Majestic Drive last Friday and Tuesday, and are working to stabilize that hillside.
They’re also working on plans to use a wall to shore up Oakwood Drive, which remains closed.
“We’re not going to stop our efforts,” said township manager Andy Walz.
Fraley said the new compliance order covers problems previously outlined in a notice of violation to the developer, but is separate from an order the agency issued Sept. 25. That one gave Majestic Hills three days to clean and stabilize the hillside on Bentwood.
“To date, the developer has not fully complied with the (September) order,” Fraley said.
Meanwhile, NVR’s lawsuit names DeNardo, Majestic Hills and a number of other people and entities tied to the project.
Defendants include Shari DeNardo, Joseph’s wife, and their company JND Properties LLC. The others are Monroeville-based Pennsylvania Soil and Rock Inc., or PS&R – which performed geotechnical and earthwork monitoring at the site – and its employee Mark Brashear; and Alton Industries Inc. in Somerset Township.
The lawsuit describes the DeNardos as operating JND and Majestic Hills “as alter-egos of each other.”
“Also, upon information and belief, the DeNardos, Majestic Hills and JND failed to adhere to corporate formalities with respect to Majestic Hills, kept Majestic Hills undercapitalized, and substantially intermingled the affairs and assets of Majestic Hills, JND, and the DeNardos,” wrote NVR’s attorneys, who are from the Pittsburgh firm Porter Wright Morris and Arthur.
NVR entered a lot-purchase agreement with Majestic Hills in late 2004. Under that pact, Majestic Hills would develop 179 single-family lots and then convey them to NVR in “buildable” condition, the suit said.
A portion of the 23-page lawsuit – which cites a litany of problems related to the slides and earth settlement – concerns three houses that were eventually condemned and had been purchased by third-party customers at different times in 2006 and ’08.
Those houses were built on a sidehill embankment constructed by Alton. Company President Roy Alton dismissed the assertion his company’s work contributed to any of the slides.
“It’s been over 12 years since (the fill) was in there. If it was lack of compacted soil, it would have failed a long time ago,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of factors that went into what went on there.”
Alton went on to say the biggest contributor was the recent “huge amount” of rain that caused similar problems throughout the region.
NVR contends that without its knowledge, “Majestic Hills and/or JND” tried to make repairs following two small slides on the embankment “approximately within the last three years.”
“Upon information and belief, these repairs were done without any prior knowledge or approval by North Strabane Township,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit contains breach-of-contract claims against the DeNardos and their companies, plus PS&R and Alton, alleging they violated agreements with NVR through their work on the project. It also accuses the defendants of negligence, and singles out Brashear and PS&R in a professional negligence claim.
Finally, it advances an indemnification claim asking that Majestic Hills and PS&R be liable for all costs NVR incurs because of those entities’ alleged negligence.
NVR also seeks more than $75,000 in damages, interest and other costs related to the litigation.
A representative for PS&R didn’t immediately return a call Thursday afternoon.
Joseph DeNardo didn’t return a message left Thursday at JND’s office in South Fayette Township.