Groves Complex at Center of Dispute

Despite continued protests by a local homeowners association, Thousand Oaks housing officials dispute accusations that the city relaxed its construction standards for a housing development that targeted lower-income home buyers.

The Groves Homeowners Assn. filed suit earlier this year against Amcal General Contractors of Westlake Village alleging widespread construction violations at the Groves of Thousand Oaks, a 91-unit, 16-building complex on Holly Grove Street.

The complex, which includes a pool, spa, recreation area and a playground, was part of the city’s first-time home-buyers program. That program provided low-interest loans with smaller down payments to help people buy their first homes. Sales at the Groves began in 1993.

But Olav Hassel, the city’s acting housing and redevelopment manager, said that the city did not relax its building codes and that the homes were in fact built to municipal standards.

“That project is built under the same building, health and safety codes that all development is built under,” Hassel said. “The project was built to code. There were certain things we wanted them to do and they complied very quickly.”

Homeowners at the Groves, however, said that although some units have had no problems at all, other units have significant damage attributable to poor construction.

Some complain of mildew created by recurring water leaks, including apartments that consistently leak into each other. They also complain about faulty building design, such as where a landscaping planter is allegedly used as a load-bearing wall.

Hassel said such complaints continue to plague city officials, who he said have engaged in extensive technical reviews of the project.

“To them [homeowners], a column or post might not look right, but it’s all been engineered, and engineered properly,” he said.

Amcal representatives declined to comment, other than to say that the company disputes the allegations and will defend itself in court.