Bend neighbors blast contractor’s demolition work

A new housing development in northeast Bend is not only preparing for dozens of new homes near the Sandalwood neighborhood, but also leaving some nearby neighbors wondering if their homes will survive the project’s blasting.

“It has been a war zone,” resident Mary Pitts said Thursday. She lives right on the edge of the work. “I’ve never had a panic attack in my life, but I felt like I was having one then.”

Pitts said she understands the development and tolerates all the noise, but what she doesn’t like is the blasting. She said frequent explosions rattle her paintings on the wall, knock down her photographs and send her cats running.

“Our main problem is they’re not telling us when they’re going to do the demolition, and it scares our pets — and us,” Pitts said.

Developers Lands Bend Corp. and builder Franklin Brothers LCC are preparing a 20 acre site to build more than 100 houses, a pool and community center.

There is one problem — and it’s a familiar one in Central Oregon construction, with volcanic rock beneath our feet.

“We’re dealing with solid rock,” developer spokesman Darrin Kelleher said. “We’ve got thousands of feet of pipe to put in the ground.”

Kelleher said the contract construction company, Taylor Northwest, is using explosives to break up the ground.

A couple neighbors told NewsChannel 21 that rocks from the blast have hit their homes. Several others said at first they didn’t know what was going on.

“We’d get these little tremors, and it’s like, ‘Is it an earthquake?,'” said neighbor Angela Copley.

Pitts said the last blast frightened her indoor/outdoor cat, Tucker, so bad that he ran away.

“He was gone for eight hours, ” Pitts said. “He is 12 years old, and we were so scared that something had happened to him.”

She is also scared her house could suffer damage.

“The contractors came through our house (Tuesday) to make sure we didn’t have any cracks in our ceiling,” Pitts said. “That made me feel really like, ‘Oh, okay, what does this mean?'”

Bend city officials told us that developing codes require that contractors notify neighbors if a blast is to occur within 100 feet from a home. So far, city officials said they believe Taylor Northwest is in compliance.

Taylor Northwest officials were not immediately available for comment about its blasting practices.

Kelleher said developers and contractors have all the necessary permits for construction. He said safety and being a good neighbor are top priorities.

“(The blasting) is monitored, there’s seismographs involved and there’s definitely formulas and parameters to be safe,” Kelleher said.

“There are other methods (to break up rock), but at the end of the day we’re trying to keep costs down and do this as quickly and efficiently as possible, so we can provide affordable housing.”

Kelleher also said his company has held public meetings about the development and has placed signs around the construction with contact phone numbers. He said air horns are used to warn people a blast is about to occur, and the actual explosion is several feet below the ground.

While roughly a half-dozen neighbors on the edge of construction zone told NewsChannel 21 they are concerned and worried about their homes, Copley said she is not.

“They came up and rang the bell told me, ‘Hey, we’re going to do some heavy blasting. You might want to move your truck down the road,'” Copley said. “It would have freaked me out if I didn’t know it was coming, but they warned us. And sure it’s a little noise, but my son really likes watching them.”

Other neighbors like Pitts said learning about the project has been difficult.

“I have tried to get a hold of the builder, I have tried to get a hold of the city and can’t get a hold of anybody,” Pitts said.

Neighbors with concerns about development compliance are asked to call the city of Bend. The phone number is 541-693-2121.

Taylor Northwest’s phone number is 541- 382-7887.

Franklin Brothers LCC’s phone number is 541-312-7261.

To find a phone number for Lands Bend Corp., developers suggest you visit one of their construction signs on the property.