Plumas Lake homes red-tagged, stopped

Yuba County building inspection officials have halted construction of 43 homes in Plumas Lake after discovering paperwork inconsistencies and construction problems.

The order pertains to homes under construction in the Prairie Trails and Prairie Meadows subdivisions owned by D.R. Horton Inc., a national home builder based in Fort Worth, Texas.

The work stoppage was issued last week after county building inspection staff found discrepancies in six reports filed with the county by the developer, said county spokesman Russ Brown.

The problem centers on six retrofit bolts that attach homes to the concrete foundation, Brown said Wednesday.

“They weren’t quite done properly. We don’t know what happened, or if it was a serious mistake,” he said.

D.R. Horton has nearly 40 communities scattered between San Jose and Plumas Lake. Company officials issued a statement Wednesday stating they will cooperate with the county to fix the problems.

“We sincerely regret that this has happened and are taking appropriate action to ensure that these homes meet D.R. Horton’s high quality standards,” Stacey H. Dwyer, D.R. Horton’s executive vice president and treasurer, said in the statement.

“We are actively working with the Yuba County Building Department to correct the irregularities and our structural consultants are retesting the homes in question to ensure they meet all applicable building code standards.”

County inspectors discovered discrepancies in some reports filed by the developer. Building officials checked with Alpha Inspection and Material Testing, based in Camino, which checks the retrofitting bolts during the construction phase, to see what it had to say about the discrepancies.

The reports were not filed by Alpha, Brown said, so officials turned to the developer for an explanation and fixes to the homes.

During the site inspection, Alpha checks the bolts, prepares a report and gives it back to the developer. The developer turns it over to the county building department. That’s when county staffers discovered a problem, Brown said.

“They (the developers) came back with a listing that didn’t match up with what they’ve done,” said Brown. “They (staff) did a really good job of looking over the reports.”

The bolts must be fixed properly before the order will be lifted, and county officials want them fixed promptly.

“Our biggest concern is we want to see this move forward. There are a lot of people that have loans lined up,” Brown said. “We really don’t want to see delays (by) Horton.”

Appeal-Democrat reporter Daniel Witter can be reached at 749-4712. You may e-mail him at dwitter@appealdemocrat.com.