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Homeowners take the plunge, bury their pools

Water, maintenance costs drive demolitions

By David Hasemyer Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. July 26, 2009

Bill Stults of James Construction Cleanup Inc. marked where drainage holes could be punched into a pool being demolished in La Mesa. "I'm getting calls all of the time, sometimes three or four a day," Stults said. (John Gibbins / Union-Tribune) -

(John Gibbins / Union-Tribune)

POOL REMOVAL

More and more county homeowners are filling in their backyard pools, work that costs between $5,000 and $12,000.

The reasons: Pools can lose thousands of gallons of water a month through evaporation and cost $200 a month or more to maintain. Some owners just grow tired of them.

The result: Probably a wash. Water savings likely will be offset by losses from new pools. The effect on property values is negligible.

The clatter of a jackhammer and puffs of dust wafting from the bottom of Elliott Allen's empty pool signaled a noisy end to his backyard swimming pool.

A demolition crew was busy using a small tractor to punch holes in the bottom in preparation for filling it with dirt.

Allen is among a growing number of people across San Diego County who have decided to do away with their backyard pools, choosing to replace the Southern California icons with putting greens, patios, artificial turf or drought-tolerant plants, known as xeriscaping.

The pool had been in Allen's La Mesa backyard for 18 years. It served as gathering spot for neighborhood children who had come to splash around with his two daughters.

"It got a lot of use with the kids," Allen said.

But the children grew up and moved away and the pool simply sat as a reminder of fun times past, he said.

"It wasn't getting any use and had become the proverbial money pit to keep up," said Allen, who estimated he was spending $200 a month for water, electricity and maintenance.

So Allen turned to Bill Stults, owner of James Construction Cleanup Inc., to transform his swimming hole into a backyard landscaped with artificial turf, decorative rocks, cactus and a small bubbling fountain.

For Stults, business is booming. He said he is filling about two pools a week, a number consistent with work being done by other contractors in the county.

"I'm getting calls all of the time, sometimes three or four a day," Stults said.

He and the other contractors say clients offer a variety of reasons for replacing their pools, work that costs between $5,000 and $12,000.

Some cite the water crisis. Others say they can't afford the increasing maintenance costs, especially for older pools. Others say they have simply tired of the pool and want a yard.

Although building departments do not keep statistics on the number of pool removals, many building officials countywide say they are seeing a slow and steady increase in the number being removed and expect the trend to continue. Demolition companies report as much as a 30 percent increase in pool removals since the first of the year.

In the city of San Diego, building inspectors are monitoring the progress of 28 residential pool removals. That's an indicator that pool demolition has become a practical choice for people dealing with the water shortage and tough economic times, said Lynda Pfeifer, a spokeswoman for the Development Services Department.

Nationwide, the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals has detected a moderate increase in the number of pools being covered, though new pool construction far outpaces pool removals, said Kirstin Pires, the association's director of communications.

Pires said the biggest increase in pool removals noted by the association is in the regions where real estate prices have been hit hardest and the economy continues to struggle, places where "people can't take care of their pools anymore."

It was the water crisis that led Valley Center resident Mike Smith to get rid of the pool at the rental home he owns.

"It's unbelievable how much water is needed to keep a pool filled," Smith said.

By his calculations he was pouring nearly 2,000 gallons a week into the pool, precious water lost mostly to evaporation. Smith said it was tough to turn on the spigot during a Stage 2 water alert that demanded 8 percent conservation.

"I decided the cheapest, less headache thing to do was to fill the pool," he said.

Smith hopes to save close to $75 a month on his water bill now that he's got a basketball half-court and children's play area where the pool used to be.

William Rose, water conservation program executive for the San Diego County Water Authority, said evaporation alone sucks between 10,000 and 15,000 gallons a year from an average-size pool, the same amount of water used in a month by an averaged-sized family.

"That's a significant amount, and it doesn't account for the cannonball factor," he said.

In Escondido, most people seeking a permit to remove a pool are those who have recently bought a home in foreclosure and owned by a bank, said Joe Russo, assistant director of the city's building department.

With foreclosure homes, Russo said, banks generally drain pools because they are too expensive to maintain. Then, when the new owners move in they decide not to refill the pool, he said.

Real estate agents say an in-ground pool can make a home more attractive but isn't necessarily a selling point. Where some buyers see a cool place to spend hot days, others see nothing but liability and a drain on their bank accounts.

"We've always considered them to be neutral," San Diego Realtor Kris Berg said.

Demolition permits are required in cities and unincorporated parts of the county, but some officials worry that pools are being filled in without meeting the safety standards imposed by the permits.

The two most important requirements are removing the electrical connections for pool lights and breaking holes in the bottom to allow for drainage, said Clay Westling, a senior structural engineer for San Diego County.

The sides and much of the bottom of the pools can be left in place, but if those two conditions are not met, a filled-in pool has the potential of becoming an electrically charged, swampy bog, Westling said.

In the past year, the number of demolition companies doing pool removals has increased from two to five countywide, with some companies removing as many as three pools a week.

"We're doing a lot more now than we did a year ago," said Anena Marchand, president of San Diego Express Swimming Pool Demolition.

Karen Macy and her husband never wanted the pool that came with the Tierrasanta house they bought five years ago. By her count, they used the pool only a "handful" of times in those five years.

"It just sat there," Macy said.

Eventually, the $185-a-month maintenance and utility bills got to be too much, she said. The pool had to go.

"We weren't using it and were paying for not using it," Macy said. "It didn't make sense."

Besides, with two young children, she was eager for them to have a backyard where they could cavort on some grass and play on a swing set.

"They didn't have that with the pool," she said.

Some jobs are easy and some jobs are a headache for Stults' crews. It all depends on access for equipment.

If Stults can easily maneuver a small tractor into a backyard, the job is a breeze.

The little machine can break apart the coping, tear down the top two feet of the sidewalls and use an attached jackhammer to break holes in the bottom of the pool. The depression is then filled with dirt.

But if the backyard is too tight of a squeeze, the work has to be done by hand, meaning much more time to employ a manual jackhammer and wheelbarrows to cart in the fill dirt.

"It can become labor intensive in some cases," Stults said.

The job on Elliott Allen's pool was one of Stults'easier ones. In two days, the pool was a memory.

"It was nice to have, and it's nice to have it gone," Allen said.

Staff writer Matthew T. Hall contributed to this report.

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David Hasemyer: (619) 542-4583; david.hasemyer@uniontrib.com

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Group to overhaul 24-year-old community plan

By Julia Love

2:00 a.m. July 23, 2009

MISSION VALLEY - Mission Valley was a different place in 1985.

Huge plots of land remained undeveloped. The San Diego River was considered a flood project, not an amenity. Thousands commuted to the area, but few called it home.

Just about the only thing that hasn't changed since then is the community plan.

After years of waiting, the Mission Valley Planning Group has finally begun the process of overhauling the document, which was last revised 24 years ago. The San Diego City Council approved $1.2 million in funding for the two-year project as part of the fiscal 2010 budget.

Residents and local government officials say they are eager to start working on the plan - a legally binding document that guides development in the area.

"I like to refer to our community plan as kind of the road map for Mission Valley," said Linda Kaufman, chair of the planning group. "If you have an outdated road map, it's hard to move forward."

Kaufman said her group began updating the community plan six years ago, but the project lost its funding and the senior planner overseeing the process retired. Because traffic studies used in that draft are outdated, the group must start from scratch with this version, she said.

San Diego updated its general plan last year, clearing the way for neighborhoods to bring their own plans into the 21st century. But Brian Schoenfisch, a senior planner coordinating the Mission Valley effort, said creating a new vision for this community will be especially complicated.

"Mission Valley is almost like a downtown where residents from all over the county and tourists come together," he said. "Whether you're living here or you're just passing through, you have an opinion on Mission Valley."

Congested streets. Overdevelopment. No real sense of community. Once they started rattling off Mission Valley's problems, residents almost couldn't stop.

"I would like it to become a balanced community where there's reasonable development but people can live here peacefully," said retired resident Julie Corwin, 62. "That's not what we have today."

Schoenfisch said many of the area's troubles stem from the fact that it was primarily a commercial district when the community plan was last updated. Mission Valley is now a "mixed-use community" with a blend of neighborhoods and shopping centers, but the outdated document does not call for the services residents need, Schoenfisch said. And community leaders couldn't have imagined the environmental challenges - river preservation among them - that now top the list of concerns.

"Just as life evolves, so does the community . . . and the idea of keeping the community plan updated is to keep that vision current instead of trying to play catch-up," Councilwoman Donna Frye said.

Creating more trails along the San Diego River could remedy many of Mission Valley's woes, giving residents the option of walking or biking to work, connecting the area's developments and fostering a sense of community among residents, Schoenfisch said.

The San Diego River Park Draft Master Plan, which outlines a network of parks and trails along the waterway, will be incorporated into the community plan when it is completed.

"People are looking for new ways to create a sense of community, and the river . . . will be the organizing principle for making that happen," said Rob Hutsel, executive director of the San Diego River Park Foundation.

Lynn Mulholland, chair of the Mission Valley Community Council, said the community's growth must come to a halt until infrastructure improves. But she doubts the new plan will be enough to reign in developers.

"We have enough statutes on the books to ensure a healthy Mission Valley," said Mulholland, a retiree who has lived in the area since 1975. "We need council members that are not beholden to developers."

Frye and others say that when proposed construction projects clash with the plan, developers obtain amendments with little difficulty. The revisions partially explain why Mission Valley just dedicated Sefton Field as its first public park, though developers have been required to create recreation spaces for decades.

Quarry Falls, a massive development that will add almost 5,000 homes to Mission Valley, was approved by the City Council through an amendment to the community plan, Frye said.

But Quarry Falls developer Tom Sudberry said revising the plan was challenging, and he does not think it will be easy for developers to circumvent the updated document.

"I think it would be difficult to come in with an amendment after it has just been updated, but it can be done," Frye said.

Corwin said she is concerned that the Mission Valley Planning Group has an overrepresentation of development interests who might prioritize the needs of their employers over the needs of the community when drafting the plan. Kaufman, for one, is a commercial leasing manager for H.G. Fenton Co.

In addition, the group meets Wednesdays at noon, which might keep residents who work from attending, Corwin said.

Schoenfisch said community input will be essential. A stakeholders group will discuss proposals in monthly public meetings this fall, and the opinions of audience members will be noted, along with those of the panelists.

Frye said she regrets some of the development that has taken place in Mission Valley, but she said it's not too late to right the course - and the community plan update may make it possible.

"You kind of go back in time and say, 'Golly, I wish we could have done it in a different way,' " Frye said. "We can't go back and change it, but we can still make it a whole lot better for the people that live in and visit Mission Valley."

Julia Love is a Union-Tribune intern.

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San Diego County foreclosures soar 66 percent

June data seen as setback; coastal defaults keep rising

By Emmet Pierce Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. July 23, 2009

• Second quarter Foreclosure data (PDF)
  
• Second quarter Notice of Default data (PDF)

Hopes that a recent rise in San Diego County home prices would signal an end to the housing slump were tempered yesterday when MDA DataQuick reported that foreclosures in June surged nearly 66 percent over the previous month.

The report also found that the rate of foreclosure continues to rise in higher-priced coastal areas, such as Point Loma, Coronado and Solana Beach. The bulk of foreclosures, however, continue to be concentrated in inland, entry-level areas, such as Encanto, Chula Vista, Otay Ranch, Spring Valley and North Oceanside.

DataQuick reported 1,630 countywide foreclosures for June, compared with 985 in May. It was the single greatest monthly increase since December 2007. However, the June count was down by 11 percent from a year ago.

For the second quarter of 2009, there were 3,518 foreclosures in the county, a 14 percent rise over the previous quarter but a 27 percent decline from the second quarter of 2008.

DataQuick tallied 3,436 June notices of default, which begin the foreclosure process. It marked a 12 percent increase over May and an 11 percent increase over June 2008.

For the second quarter there were 9,866 notices of default, compared with 10,111 in the previous quarter, a 2.4 percent decline. There was a 3.6 percent increase for the second quarter over the same period last year.

With default levels continuing to fluctuate monthly, it's too soon to talk about a recovery, said San Diego real estate economist Gary London. There could be another wave of bad loans, he said. "I don't think we are by any stretch out of the woods."

San Diego County's median home price rose for the third consecutive month in June, hitting $314,250, the highest figure since October, and raising hopes that the region's slumping housing market might be on the mend.

Mark Goldman, a mortgage broker and San Diego State University real estate lecturer, said the foreclosure trend is likely to depress prices, as more homes come onto the market in expensive areas.

"More distressed, must-sell supply will have a softening impact on home prices," Goldman said.

Economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics in Los Angeles said California homeowners will face more trials before the prolonged housing market downturn ends.

"There are a half-million people who will lose their homes in California when all is said and done," Thornberg said. "It's a question of ‘when,' not ‘if.' "

Thornberg said frequent dips and peaks in foreclosure rates have been caused by ebbs and flows in efforts by lenders to pursue foreclosures.

Under pressure from Congress and the Obama administration, many banks imposed voluntary foreclosure moratoriums in the fall. Some are now resuming evictions while others continue to delay, hoping that the economy will improve and they won't have to go through the expensive process of eviction and resale.

Beth Mills, spokeswoman for the California Bankers Association, said that banks are finding that loan modifications to keep delinquent lenders in their homes often aren't practical.

"Unfortunately, you have some instances where folks have lost jobs," Mills said. "In some instances, foreclosure is the only option. With moratoriums, it's basically a waiting game and you are delaying the inevitable for some folks."

As DataQuick noted in its May report, foreclosures have begun reaching into high-end coastal areas. Even so, there is little likelihood that the homeowners there will see the same level of loan failures that entry-level inland areas have experienced, said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.

When ranked by notices of default per 1,000 homes, most coastal areas remain low on the list of affected communities.

"The distress continues to climb into the higher rungs of the price ladder, but the concentrations are nowhere near as high as we have seen inland," LePage said.

Some real estate professionals say an increase in foreclosures would be welcomed by many buyers, because it would increase the inventory of available homes and end the bidding wars that have locked many moderate-income households out of the market.

San Diego real estate broker Greg Wickstrand said all of the efforts by the government to prevent foreclosures ultimately are harming the housing industry. To regain economic health, the real estate market needs to purge itself of thousands of failing loans, Wickstrand said.

As banks resume foreclosures, many distressed homeowners are thinking of throwing in the towel, said Dave McDonald, government affairs chairman for the San Diego County chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. If their house has dropped significantly in value since they bought it, and they owe more than their house is worth, many see no point in throwing good money after bad.

Statewide, DataQuick reported yesterday that lenders sent out 124,562 default notices during the second quarter, a drop of 8 percent from the prior quarter's record 135,431 default notices, and up 2.4 percent from 121,673 in second quarter 2008.

California foreclosures totaled 45,667 during the second quarter, up nearly 5 percent from 43,620 for the prior quarter, and down 28 percent from 63,316 for second-quarter 2008.

Nationally, the RealtyTrac research firm reported foreclosure filings - default notices, auction-sale notices and bank repossessions - on 336,173 properties in June. Filings were reported on 889,829 properties in the second quarter - an increase of nearly 11 percent from the previous quarter and a 20 percent increase from the second quarter of 2008.

Union-Tribune

Emmet Pierce: (619) 293-1372;