PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix homeowner is accusing a contractor of putting her family and property at risk.
The homeowner claims the contractor started tearing down a 20-foot brick wall without warning and without taking the proper safety measures.
Claire Haines says big chunks of rock and concrete came raining down on her backyard last week when a construction crew started tearing down the block wall that backs up to her property, off 7th Street and Missouri Avenue.
A Valley homeowner claims a contractor started tearing down a 20-foot brick wall without warning and without taking the proper safety measures.(Arizona’s Family)
Video shows the wall being broken apart and all the debris that landed in her yard.
“I was terrified for my family. I was appalled that they would be allowed to do this without any safety measures in place,” Haines said.
New hospital construction
A few weeks ago, the Phoenix mom had received a letter from the developer that a new community hospital was being built behind her house, and to be prepared for construction.
Haines insists she was never told when the wall would come down and that her family may have to duck for cover.
“My first thought is ‘I want to shut this down immediately.’ What they are doing is wrong and unsafe, extremely dangerous. It was amazing, big chunks going through my trees on my property. It was baffling,” Haines said.
Haines called the City of Phoenix to file a complaint.
Inspectors were sent out and issued an order to stop demolition of the wall until safety measures are put in place to protect neighboring properties.
Contractor’s response
The owner of the construction company, Eagle Builders, was reached by phone and asked why additional precautions were not taken when they started tearing down the wall.
The owner said it was a different company that did the demolition, despite there being no record of any other contractor involved.
Lane Boland is co-owner of SKA Homes and an experienced general contractor. He says it is a contractor’s job to work with neighbors impacted by a project to make sure they are safe.
“This contractor really screwed up. I don’t know how to say it more plainly than that, what should happen versus what did,” Boland said. “There should have been tarps, nets, whatever on the other side in order to capture it all and move it off this homeowner’s property.”
Haines is hopeful that when demolition of the wall starts up again, her family will feel safer.
“They have every right to put up a micro hospital, every right to demolition, no right to do it in unsafe environment that puts others in danger,” she said.
The contractor does not have an after-hours permit to work on the weekend. But early last Saturday morning, the homeowner woke up to the sound of jackhammers.
Once again, city inspectors were called out to shut them down.
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