Nearly 150 residents of the Cameron Grove retirement community in Upper Marlboro said Tuesday that their community's developer has "bamboozled" them, claiming the developer hasn't done enough to fix leaking water, mold and inadequate insulation.
Cameron Grove residents met at Largo Community Church in Mitchellville with People For Change of Prince George's County, a political watchdog organization, to formulate an action plan against the 55-and-older community's developer, Annapolis-based Stavrou Associates Inc., which is headed by president Stephen Stavrou.
Residents say they have been dealing with the problems for nine years, but say the developer hasn't done enough to permanently fix and prevent damage to their single-family homes, cottage homes and condominiums, using only stopgap measures.
Sandy Pruitt, a People For Change leader, said Cameron Grove resident Albert Doby contacted People For Change three weeks ago asking for help, and the organization began immediately putting together Tuesday's meeting. Doby said that raw sewage backed up into his condo unit in 2004 and that it took four months renovate his unit from the damage.
Some residents have written letters to Starvou, but say they never received a response.
About 15 Cameron Grove residents attended a Prince George's County Council hearing Sept. 29 in Upper Marlboro to testify about their concerns.
People For Change told residents Tuesday they must document the damage, organize as a group and apply pressure to elected officials. A class action lawsuit is a last resort.
Representatives from Stavrou decided not to attend Tuesday's meeting.
Stephen Moore, vice president for Stavrou Associates, Inc., said Tuesday in a phone interview he doesn't believe the problems are widespread — about 1,000 people live in the community.
"We will address all issues — all legitimate issues — that are presented in the proper manner," Moore said. "I would encourage any homeowners that do have issues to follow the procedures the [Home Owners Association] board has laid out with the Homeowners Advocacy Committee."
Moore said Starvou has a 10-year quality builder's warranty that covers most structural issues. If a homeowner isn't covered under the warranty and are still dissatisfied, they should go to the Homeowners Advocacy Committee.
Stavrou and Belva Nixon, president of the Cameron Grove HOA, sent a letter Tuesday to Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), Prince George's County Councilmember Samuel Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville, Del. Marvin Holmes (D-Dist. 23B) of Kettering, Del. Joanne Benson (D-Dist. 24) of Landover and Sen. Douglas Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie.
The letter states that Dean told the concerned citizen group to present their issues to the HOA board, which they have not yet done. Holmes, who attended the meeting, told residents this is the first time the issue has been brought to elected officials.
"The best thing is to get the inspectors out to address the problems," he said.
Holmes said he and Peters did a walkthrough of some condo units Saturday and found rooms to be cold and space heaters set up — which create fire hazards and increase electric bills — and water leaking from walls.
Holmes also said he and Peters recently wrote a letter to Johnson asking him to hold Starvou's bonds until Cameron Grove's issues are resolved.
Jerry McLaurin, a leader of People For Change, told residents the organization will do a walkthrough of each building to document damages.
Bernice Taylor, a Cameron Grove resident since 2001, said her condo unit isn't properly insulated and that the heating in her unit is poor.
"We want [Starvou] to resolve the problems," Taylor said. "I'm not going to move — I want him to do the job correctly. He should correct all the wrongs."
E-mail Liz Skalski at eskalskI@gazette.net.
