The chance to live in what was billed as the county's only gated golf course community for seniors drew eager buyers to bucolic Glenwood over the past five years.
But a lawsuit filed by the county government claims that the developers and builders of the Villas at Cattail Creek misled homebuyers about many aspects of the project.
The suit accuses developers Donald Reuwer Jr. and J. Thomas Scrivener, along with NVR Inc., owner of the builder, Ryan Homes, of deceiving buyers for years. The allegations laid out range from the gate at the entrance, which the county said still doesn't work, to an unbuilt golf course, to a water and sewer system that even the developers acknowledge never functioned properly.
The developers deny the charges and, through their attorney, Robert B. Schulman, called the suit "an absolute political witch hunt." A spokesman for NVR declined to comment.
County Solicitor Margaret Ann Nolan said Schulman's reaction is "absolutely untrue and preposterous," given that the development's sewerage system has not functioned properly in five years. After county lawyers and consumer protection investigators researched the case, the right course was clear, she said.
"The facts are so compelling, how could the county not file suit?" she said.
The county wants to take part in the court-supervised mediation efforts to resolve the dispute that grew from the residents' private lawsuit filed two years ago, Nolan said.
James Wilding, president of the 93-home community's condominium association, said residents are hoping the county can help.
"We're very pleased," he said. "We've been asking the county for several years to get involved."
Building on 58 acres where public water and sewer pipes weren't available, the developers got state permission over local opposition for a shared septic system and wells - the only way they could build townhouses in a rural area. Until state, and later county, legislation passed this year, Howard County officials had no jurisdiction over the unusual sewer system.
But the county says the developers used an old, less costly design and did not install the system properly, while telling buyers that there was no problem with the "state of the art" system despite knowing it was flawed. Meanwhile, the trucks that entered the community daily to haul away sewage were causing damage to the roads that residents likely would have to pay to repair someday.
