Part of Marana neighborhood is sinking

Portions of a Marana neighborhood are disappearing, slowly sinking back into what once was a sand and gravel quarry.

Residents in The Pines 1 subdivision began noticing the problem roughly a year ago, as portions of a street settled, creating an unusual depression in the road. While some residents complain the neighborhood is continuing to sink, it is occurring at a glacial pace as the soil compacts.

Town officials blame “abnormal settlement” in pockets solely in The Pines 1 development, affecting roughly 20 homes.

After numerous tests, officials are telling residents that they believe there are no safety issues at this time.

Soil settlement issues were known during the construction phase, town records show. However, the previous developer — Red Point Development — is believed to have only reinforced the area direct below the concrete house pads and not the surrounding areas.

“As a result, some of the yards are currently breaking away from the house pads,” town officials wrote in a document to concerned residents.

Marana has already set aside $350,000 to fix the issue, dipping into the town’s rainy day fund — also known as its contingency fund — to fix rights of way, utility lines and repave streets.

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“We are firmly committed to resolving this issue as quickly as possible,” said Town Manager Gilbert Davidson.

The current developer, Richmond American Homes, could not be immediately reached for comment, but in a letter to town officials, it pledged in October that it was already in the neighborhood and had a contractor injecting a special type of cement deep into the ground to compact the soil.

They also pledged to address other issues on a case-by-case basis.

“Follow-up work will include sidewalk and driveway demo and replacement where needed, front yard regrading/cleanup, and landscape/irrigation replacement,” wrote Fillmore K. Hirohata, the vice president of land development in Arizona for Richmond American Homes.

Red Point did not respond to a request for comment.

Town engineer Keith Brann said while the town council has authorized $350,000 for repairs, he hopes the final figure will be lower.