Security, maintenance issues have Potomac Club residents steamed

The gates are constantly breaking down, the grass is brown in many areas and the security is virtually non-existent.

These are just some of the things that Woodbridge resident Bill Petrak and his neighbors are saying about the Potomac Club subdivision off Neabsco Road.

After eight months of battling with the community’s developer and associated builders, Petrak is planning a protest, one he hopes will stall prospective residents from buying into this yet-to-be completed community.

He also plans on notifying all organizations who have administered any kind of honors on these companies about his dealings concerning this matter.

When looking at houses, many of the current residents interviewed said they were informed by real estate agents from Pulte Homes, Ryan Homes and MI Homes that they would be moving into a premier gated community with luxurious amenities that included everything from a fitness center to a pool to an amphitheater.

These promises still continue today, at least in written form. Ryan Homes is still advertising the amphitheater on at least two area real estate Web sites — americanhomeguides.com and newhomedirectory.com. According to Kettler representative Joe Kumke, there was never plans for an amphitheater.

“We are not looking for free stuff after the fact; we just want what we paid for,” Petrak stated in an e-mail last week.

“We are not asking for anything above and beyond, we are not being unreasonable,” added Petrak’s neighbor, Jamie Grunner. “We are asking them to fulfill what we were promised in good faith.”

Kumke defended the company’s role in the dispute and stated that he hasn’t seen proof that the builders verbally misled home buyers.

In an e-mail to the newspaper dated Aug. 14, Kumke stated that Kettler has “spent its own money and devoted hundreds of hours of employee time to make sure Potomac Club became the great place to live it is today.”

Fight over fencing

Petrak’s disillusionment began last year after a rash of break-ins near their homes on Crossfield Way. Petrak’s home is directly up the hill from the Potomac Community Library, where, according to Petrak, at least one suspect fled.

The break-ins started to make Petrak think about the community’s security. Many residents, including Petrak, believed that the term “gated” that was advertised in several forms meant that the entire community would be fenced in.

Petrak, who pays $249 a month for his homeowners association fee, said the developer first offered to build a wooden fence at no cost to the homeowners. He and other residents fought the wooden fence idea, though, because they didn’t match the stylized metal fenceline in various areas of the community.

“This wooden fence would turn into a canvas for graffiti and serve as a magnet for more illegal activity,”stated Crossfield Way residents Rhett and Angie Michaelman in a letter to president Bob Kettler dated April 21.

The HOA, Potomac Club Owners Association, came back with a resident survey in March that said the developer would install the metal fence but wouldn’t pay the difference between the two kinds — a price tag of $8,778.

Several concerned residents took the developer to task about the price difference and the metal fence was installed this summer at the developer’s expense after discussions with Bob Kettler at an April town hall meeting.

Security issues

Many residents, some of whom moved in as early as 2006, said they were told that the three front gate guard shacks that sit in front of the community would be manned. Grunner, who moved in the fall of 2007 with her husband, also said that some of the advertising for the neighborhood changed from being a “gated community” to an “access controlled community.”

An employee in the security field, Grunner said words like “access controlled community” is an even stricter term than a gated community and is even more misleading to the residents.

The gates are open during the day because of construction traffic. However, many residents, including Petrak, have said that the gates are often broken, making the community accessible to anybody.

Kumke offered a different view of what the term “gated community” means.

“The developer never stated or implied that the guard shacks would be manned,” Kumke stated in an e-mail sent Aug. 18. “Potomac Club was advertised as a gated community and it is. Vehicular access is strictly controlled by a gate and limited to those who have a valid passcard. A gated community is not synonymous with a walled community or a guard-gated community.”

‘Waste of money’

An independent investigation by the News & Messenger saw evidence to support Petrak’s issues with property maintenance.

In many areas throughout the neighborhood, including people’s backyards, grass is brown and dying. In some cases, it’s nothing but dirt.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4, maintenance workers were watering the grass with hoses. This has some residents, many of whom had unsuccessfully requested that an in-ground sprinkler system be installed last year, very upset.

“You don’t water in the middle of the afternoon, that is a waste of money,” said resident Barbara Williamson. “How they are doing it must be very expensive.”

This situation likely won’t get any better, either. In an e-mail sent by HOA property manager Andrea Bishop to residents dated Aug. 13, the association stated it can no longer afford to water the common grass area, only the new plantings in the community.

Bishop referred questions about property maintenance to its management company, Leggum and Norman. Efforts to reach company representative Beth Delucenay about the issue were unsuccessful.

Overall, Williamson said she’s happy with the community and has made several good friends since moving in last fall. However, the reoccurring issues with the entrance gates and lack of maintenance "can get old."

Resident Leslie Casey, who moved into her condo in May 2007, was a little more to the point.

“If I could sell today, I would,” said Casey, who moved into her condo in May 2007.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.