Giant potholes plague neighborhood

WESLEY CHAPEL, N.C. -- It's like a piece of mars in the Hampton Meadows neighborhood of Wesley Chapel.

"The roads are a mess. They are putting peoples’ lives in jeopardy,” said Donna Pasciuta, neighborhood organizer. “They are just hideous.”

The neighborhood is plagued with potholes.

"My daughter had her first date the other day and she was like, 'Mommy, I had to tell my boyfriend's father (to) swerve this way and swerve that way,’” Pasciuta said.

Pasciuta blames the subdivision developer, Bowie Motor Companies of Monroe. She sent more than 100 letters to others in the neighborhood asking them to help pressure the village council to step in and help.

"I am still getting responses back and all these people are telling me the first thing they want is to ask Wesley Chapel (Village Council) for the $2,500 for the retainer fee for the attorney," Pasciuta added.

Pasciuta wants to sue the developer. She claims to have documents that prove the developer never completed the necessary work to hand over the road maintenance responsibility to the state.

"Bowie Motors just isn't helping us to handle the situation," Pasciuta added.

Jamie Peterson with the Bakers Volunteer Fire Department lives and works in the Hampton Meadows neighborhood.

“In any emergency, time is of the essence and seconds counts where you have to slow down for these large potholes that we have in the neighborhood,” said Peterson.

Peterson added that the department has had to spend $27,000 to fix equipment damages related in part to the pothole problem.

"It's heavy pieces of equipment here (in the fire engine) and when it jumps up it puts a lot of stress on the shelving," added the firefighter.

The developer in charge at the time of construction, Mary Oakes, said over the phone that she's talked to neighbors and council members about the problem.

Oakes hung up after saying, “That's all I have to say.”

"I want something done to these potholes now,” Pasciuta said. “I mean, they need to be filled with dirt, sand, I don't care."