CINCINNATI — Debbie and Jack Carr have spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about cracks — the cracks in their driveway, the cracks in their garage and the cracks on their street in the CUF neighborhood.
“This used to be all level,” Debbie said, leaning over and touching the two- to three-inch gap between two curbs.
They’ve also been thinking about how the construction project directly across from their home fell through the cracks and led to a landslide.
The construction of the final phase of a housing complex targeted at University of Cincinnati students included the shearing of a hillside against West McMicken Avenue and Straight Street. It made way for parking spaces, which were paved this week.
The hillside was sheared in May 2023, according to neighbors. By June, the Carrs said they were noticing cracks in the road on Straight Street.
By January 2024, the cracks were so large you could put your foot in it, Debbie said. That’s when the city came out to fill the affected areas with asphalt, something that would happen again in May.
On Jan. 12, CUF Neighborhood Association President Rob Neel sent a message to City Manager Cheryl Long and John Brazina, director of the Department of Transportation and Engineering.
“CUFNA is not just concerned about the cracks in the street pavement; we are primarily concerned with significant disruption to the hillside due to the digging and pounding of the hillside,” Neel wrote. “We would like assurances that the city is monitoring the construction activity to prevent future hillside damage.”
On Jan. 18, Brazina responded that the contractor would mobilize equipment and begin work the week of Jan. 22: “Additional control points are being installed on both sides of McMicken and will be surveyed during and after the construction of the retaining walls.”
Personnel from both Buildings and Inspections and DOTE “routinely visit the area to observe the conditions,” he wrote.
Neel told WCPO by phone that after no retaining wall had been built, he “hand-delivered” the Jan. 12 email to the city manager and mayor’s offices. He said he never heard back.
“It felt like it wasn’t important enough,” Neel said.
Debbie Carr said that work in earnest on the retaining wall began in May, a full year after the hillside had first been sheared.
In an email to WCPO, Edward Cunningham, deputy director of the Department of Buildings & Inspections, said that “unless the department issues orders or conditions, the timelines for completing a project and sequencing are set by the contractor and developer based on a number of factors such as availability of labor and materials and customer expectations, safety, etc.”
“The excavation and fill permit was issued on 2-17-23,” Cunningham wrote. “The inspector notes some excavation work had started by 2-22-23. The wall redesign approval was issued in May.”
Cunningham added the “significant new earth retention system was professionally engineered and designed to stabilize the slope based on the landslide potential, loads imposed, earth conditions, testing, and soil type, etc.”
“The installation was overseen by our inspectors along with a second level of specialized oversight by a geotechnical engineer as a special inspector during installation. The system now in place is designed and installed to keep the area stable and safe for years to come,” he wrote.
The slippage was “clearly preventable,” The Hillside Trust Executive Director Eric Russo said.
The nonprofit consults with governments on hillside developments. Russo said he was not involved with this project.
“My first reaction was, ‘How did this happen?’” he said. “I know the city has a very strong hillside code, and so, where was the breakdown in review/communications on this is my question?”
Russo said a wall like the one constructed will hold for “many, many decades,” but added it will eventually need to be replaced at the end of its lifespan, approximately 15-25 years.
“The lesson is making sure we’re more proactive moving forward,” he said. “The city needs to take a very strong code that it has and make sure it’s enforcing it, both during the review process, but also during the construction process.”
According to the city’s data portal, the area surrounding the construction site does not fall into the Cincinnati Hillside Overlay District. Russo said development in those districts has a series of steps that ensure the cut is going to be retained and the surrounding development is going to be stable. Via text, Russo said he is aware of discrepancies with the CAGiS map that did not include hillsides that should have and vice versa.
Back at the Carr home, Debbie said the sequence of events is puzzling.
“It's common sense, you build a wall before everything starts sliding,” she said.
She’s now determining the best way to proceed on the cracks that have appeared in her driveway and garage. One contractor quoted her $35,000 to repair it.
“Somebody needs to be accountable. It shouldn’t be us — shouldn’t be our tax dollars, and I shouldn’t have to pay for this,” she said.
Carr is calling on the city to put forward steps to make sure the next development won’t fall through similar cracks: “You can't afford another Columbia Parkway, another Mount Adams. Let's, let's do something.”
