Residents: Violations are retaliation

Monday, April 06, 2009
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City fire inspectors have hit homeowners at Droyers Point with violations for not having working fire sprinklers. This action comes two months after the homeowners' association sued a city agency and the developer for shutting off the sprinklers six months ago.

Some residents say the notices are tit-for-tat punishment because the Droyers Point Condominium Association filed their grievances in court.

"We don't have the ability to turn these sprinklers on but we are individually getting these letters," said Jonathan Goodman, a resident of Carpenter Court in the Droyers Point community, on Kellogg Street near Route 440. "I think this is in retaliation for us having to resolve this issue through the courts."

In a lawsuit filed in Superior Court Jan. 22 against developer K. Hovnanian and the city Municipal Utilities Authority, 120 homeowners allege the sprinklers were turned off Aug. 14 due to a flooding problem. A water surge caused the failure of the backflow preventers attached to the sprinkler system, they said.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said residents received the letters as part of a city-wide crackdown to make sure buildings are equipped with working backflow preventers, which prevents stagnant water used in the sprinkler system from mixing with drinking water.

The developer at Droyers Point has installed the backflow preventers, but has not been able to test them because the water flowing to the sprinkler system has been turned off, she said.

The time is being extended for Droyers Point residents to prove they have working backflow preventers, Morrill said.

Jersey City's Droyer's Point residents sue over turned off sprinklers

by The Jersey Journal
Tuesday March 10, 2009

A lawsuit was filed by the condominium association at Droyers Point regarding the faulty sprinkler system

Homeowners at Droyer's Point at Society Hill say they are living in fear.

With their in-home sprinklers off for the past six months, they say there's nothing stopping their homes from going up in smoke if a fire breaks out in the development.


Bryant Pressley, a resident at Droyers Point in Jersey City, comments about the lawsuit filed by the condominium association regarding the faulty sprinkler system

"The homeowners of Droyer's Point are at risk of substantial and irreparable harm in that there is no active sprinkler system on the premises to safeguard the homes," the suit says.