Homes are imperiled by shifting earth
Semicir Street lies along a steep hillside above Riverview Park. It runs downhill, then uphill — a loop with two openings on Perrysville Avenue.
One side of the street has great views of the wooded ravines below, but the lay of the land also has its drawbacks. A landslide last year forced one family to evacuate, as did a landslide in 2010.
One recent homebuyer didn’t even have a chance to settle in. Edward G. Ferrell bought 35
Semicir late last year for $79,825. The sale was recorded by Allegheny County on Jan. 4. Six days later, the city condemned his house.
On one side of his house is a lot where a house was razed in 2010. On the other side sits a house that was condemned last year.
I haven’t been able to reach Mr. Ferrell, but he posted this on Facebook: “They clipped my electrical wires, took the meter and took my gas meter which caused my pipes to freeze and burst. And it took the PWSA 5 days to shut my water off which caused a lot of damage to my basement.”
He told WTAE-TV that his home was inspected and appraised with no red flags. It is a beautiful frame house with a steeply pitched attic gable.
Cessy Portuguez bought the house beside his in 2009. Her family was forced to evacuate last February after a back corner detached, fell off and left a gaping hole in the first floor.
That home now appears to be buckling.
Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, declined to comment about the city’s protocol on the condemnations and demolitions because of a lawsuit that Ms. Portuguez brought against the city and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority in October. The suit cites negligence by PWSA for broken water lines and by the city for changing the slope of the street in a 2017 repaving.
Both the city and PWSA claim immunity, citing the Tort Claims Act. PWSA further objected, stating it had not been informed of dangerous conditions that the suit alleges and that the plaintiff failed to prove the water pipes belong to PWSA.
According to the community development nonprofit Observatory Hill Inc., in a statement: “The City’s engineers are taking daily measurements of any movement of the street and monitoring the safety of the situation. OHI has been assured that City officials are working diligently to identify engineering solutions to address the landslide and the first priority is safety of the residents.”
While Semicir Street is considered Perry North by the city, the people who live there say they’re a part of Observatory Hill.
Landslides are part of Pittsburgh’s legacy. In recent years, residents have been evacuated from homes in neighborhoods including Perry South, Garfield, Mount Washington and Duquesne Heights. An added injury is that insurance does not cover damage due to landslides.
In 2010, Justin and Dorothy Defide, who had lived at 33 Semicir for 44 years, were evacuated after a landslide, and their home was quickly razed. A current demolition has brought down 63 Semicir. It had been a two-story brick house with a front porch. It is unclear whether it was a casualty of landslides. It had not been lived in for several years. A house beside it also is condemned, possibly for conditions other than land instability.
Observatory Hill Inc. started a GoFundMe fundraising campaign last year — the Portuguez Family Landslide Fund. Ms. Portuguez declined to be interviewed.
In recent months, the sidewalk in front of the Portuguez house broke off from the curb. A sawhorse barrier and a row of sandbags lined the edge of the street where the sidewalk detached. Beyond the slanting sidewalk, the land has given way.
The neighbors said heavy trucks — utility vans, bulldozers — put an additional burden on the street, but these vehicles are responding to what could become an emergency.
“All we want is for people to be safe on this street,” said Denise Hogg, a resident of 20 years. “People pay taxes. We’re fighting for our properties.”
The vintage of homes on Semicir range from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. On one side, homes are perched on a slope, with a hillside above them. On the other side, many homes were built below street level. Mitch Hall has a long path of steps down to his front door. He bought his house in 2017.
“I’ve had no problems, not even a wet basement,” he said.
He lives near a condemned house, and Ms. Hogg lives in a house that’s flush with the street, in the other direction, but they both wonder which direction the earth will take when it moves again.