'Buyer Beware' signs grab developer's attention
Orleans Homebuilders urged to fix estates
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Buyer beware.

Signs with that slogan on it recently popped up on many of the houses in the Winchester Estates development.

About half of the homes in the 41-lot development have been sold. Starting in the high $700,000s, some of the homes have sold for $1 million, making it one of the most expensive developments in the township. However, current residents are now wondering if they got their money's worth, since many have encountered problems with their new homes.

Winchester Estates resident Bryan Scheff appeared before the Township Committee at its Sept. 6 meeting. Scheff told the committee that he represented 15 homeowners in his subdivision who have had several issues with the Pennsylvaniabased developer Orleans Homebuilders over the past several months.

The most serious of the issues in the development concerns water. Beyond a cosmetic problem, Scheff said, the water in the development has a high iron content, measuring 20-30 parts per million. Residents have concerns that their water equipment and well pumps are prematurely aging.

Scheff also told the governing body that the backwash water coming out of homes in the development is going into undersized dry wells, resulting in a "tremendous amount of standing water." He alleged that the builder would like to route the backwater wash into septic tanks rather than repair the dry wells.

"A community of 41 homes with failed septic tanks down the road could impact more than just Winchester Estates," Scheff said.

His group plans to contact the township Board of Health, and has already been in touch with the Freehold Area Health Department on some issues, he said.

Scheff said that 15 out of 21 families in the development were willing to put the 2-foot-by-3-foot "Buyer Beware" signs on the front of their homes to get the developer's attention.

"Which it did," he said, adding that the signs have since been removed.

Scheff said that while some of the newer homes in the development have 300-foot wells, most of the homes have 100-foot wells. The 15 homeowners with the shallow wells want the builder to dig all of the wells to 300 feet.

"That would be the right thing to do," he said.

The shallow wells hit the Englishtown aquifer, which is known for its high iron content and poor water quality, he said. The newer homes in the development with the deeper wells have water with significantly lower iron content, he said.

Scheff said Orleans Homebuilders should not be allowed to build the rest of the houses in the subdivision until the company is willing to right its wrongs.

Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said Scheff's information disturbed him. Most disturbing, the mayor said, is that the developer dug wells 100 feet deep rather than 300 feet deep.

"That is the crux of the matter," he said.

Deputy Mayor William Miscoski commented that the town's water has a high iron content.

After appearing before township officials, Scheff and fellow homeowners had an opportunity on Sept. 7 to meet with Jonathan Feinberg, a vice president of Orleans Homebuilders. Feinberg offered to address the residents' concerns in a way that the company believes is adequate, Scheff said.

Scheff said that Feinberg will make individual appointments to visit the 15 residents' homes.

Feinberg did not return Greater Media Newspapers' calls for comment.

Scheff, who called Winchester Estates "a beautiful community with beautiful homes," said that the developer designed the homes' water treatment and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to meet minimum standards. The company has already agreed to correct an installation error with the HVAC systems, he said.