Morning Read: Keene Valley slide erases millions of dollars in value
Reporter Mary Thill has a fascinating update on the Keene Valley slide in the Adirondack Almanack, looking at the hit to the value of land on Little Porter Mountain.
Four half-million-dollar houses at the top of the slide have been affected—pried wholly from their foundations or partially destabilized—and at least one vacation home appears to be in its path below.
The value of the land in motion is expected to be reduced from about $3 million to zero, while sales of similar properties are thrown into limbo.
Supervisor Bill Ferebee said the town has begun to seek emergency state reimbursement to help make up an anticipated losses in property tax.
An interesting question is how this will affect the ridgeline development push that’s been underway the last half decade or so — will property values be affected? Will slide insurance become a standard?
The last thing Adirondack realtors needed in the current real estate climate was added uncertainty on some of their most attractive and valuable properties. On the other hand, green activists have been arguing for years that these properties shouldn’t be developed.
What do you think? Time to rethink upland development in the Park? Or is this a one-year freak storm anomaly?
I don’t have a really strong opinion on revamping any codes within the Park, but it always struck me as a little arrogant to think you could build on a steep slope and not expect eventual problems.
I would have to see the foundation’s construction to see if it was built like a foundation designed for a slope, and then if minium or maximum engineering margins were allowed for, or like a foundation for lets say, under a high ranch on Long Island or some other geographical mismatch.
Bret i agree it’s impracticle sometimes, but when it comes to building techniques little is impossible. No new codes are need.
I applaud you for starting to include non-newspaper journalism in your press reviews. There’s a lot of crap in blogs but there actually is some good stuff out as well. Please keep it up and expand.
MY first reaction to this was similar to my past reaction to the buidlings lost in the frequent mudslides in California. It isn’t sympathy.
I think this is a fairly low probability event according to what I have read. The other two places where we have seen it in NY were not in the Adirondacks. We do see slides with some regularity on very steep pitches but this type of event is very different as I understand it.
Brian, I also think there is a difference between ridge-line development (at the top of the hill) and building on an incline that is too steep. If you build in these spots it probably makes sense to get down to the bedrock with the foundation. I don’t think this is too far down in some of these areas.
Also, do you need “slide insurance”? What is that? I would think that regular homeowners insurance will cover this. This isn’t a flood.
Given all the land that is classified as wetlands in the Adirondacks you have a rather limited amount of area where you can actually build. I don’t think I would take the high and dry ground out of the mix over this incident. Seems a bit premature.
As long as they are not asking for public help to mitigate their own risk taking, I think it is fine.
Apparently homeowners insurance will not cover this. I guess you do need slide insurance.
Slip sliding away, as the song goes.
Never did care much for the “folks who live on the hill.”
This isn’t a black and white issue for sure. But have to take issue with Mervel’s comment. Any time private property or personal safety is at risk, its a risk to the public at large. There are town roads going up to these houses. They could be threatened or unsafe. If anyone is hurt, our volunteer rescue squad will go rushing up there. The article above tells about how the town supervisor is requesting state funds to recover the lost property taxes. And the property owners would like to receive assistance from the government.
And its really arrogant/ignorant to think that if the environmental impacts of developement don’t affect us all. Every time you build a shed anywhere there is an environmental tradeoff to consider. So it’s a tangled web we weave. What happens to one happens to us all. This landslide is an unfortunate situation all the way around.
The past is what it is.
But I would bet that people considering buying a site for a new home today will take this into consideration. In the past I think some people considered bedrock on a site to be a pain. Now they will see it as an asset.
Like many things, people’s perceptions and understanding of things like slopes has changed over the decades since these homes were built. Heck I remember when the town highway crews took big trunks and loaders right into the bed of East Branch of the Ausable River to scoop up gravel for roads. We then dribbled used crankcase oil on private roads to hold the material together! Now all that looks crazy, but back then no one thought anything about it. Hillside building will go through the same sort of slow change.
People who own vulnerable homes will surely be looking at their insurance now! They certainly should. NYCM will likely loose a bunch of business, being the company that denied any coverage.
As for lost property taxes, well it’s just part of the great shrinkage of the government pie that is afoot in our nation. I doubt there is much of a fix for that.
Hope these folks will take their insurance and relocate to a town, and donate this land for conservation.