When will we put safety first?

In 1998, an urgency statute titled the Natural Hazards Disclosure Act was passed in California, recognizing that existing regulatory incomformity and lack of oversight were allowing developers to construct homes, roads and other buildings in hazardous areas, substantially increasing the probability of disasters. The act defined natural-hazard areas as zones of required investigation, meaning that before a development permit can be issued, cities and counties must require a site-specific investigation to determine whether a significant hazard exists. If the findings determine slope instability, then engineering measures must reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

The act compels all property sellers and their agents to provide prospective buyers with a “natural hazards disclosure statement,” which warns prospective buyers that the high-risk designation may “limit owners’ ability to develop property, obtain insurance or to receive assistance after a disaster.”

Meanwhile in North Carolina, 25 months after 15 landslide disasters in the western counties, Gov. Mike Easley issued a press release advising that the first of the state landslide maps had been completed—for Macon County. It shows historic landslide events and attempts to determine factors of slope instability.

For more than two years, the state has allowed local governments and developers in Western North Carolina to willfully disregard established geologic safety standards. Hundreds of major and minor subdivisions have been permitted on unmapped and very likely dangerous ground. Not one of the regulators in the 21-county, landslide-prone districts has required investigation into the stability of the building sites.

Developers profit greatly from this laissez-faire regulatory environment. Realtors and developers are not required to disclose that all of the land in WNC is in high-risk landslide-hazard zones. All owners of mountain-slope property should be concerned that their home sites and access roads were developed without the proven safeguards of landslide mapping and site-specific stability testing.

Site-specific geologic stability analyses are affordable (generally less than $500), but since the state and local governments have not required these safety measures, they have not been included in development costs. Property buyers/owners should ask their builder or developer to provide an engineering report by a state-licensed engineer that states their home site is safe.