CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Clarksville homeowner says sinkholes originating on land owned by her homeowners association have spread into her yard, and she wants action.
Kimberly Starr says her backyard used to be her happy place. "We like sitting out here in the evenings," Starr said. "We like watching the deer come up and feed and play."
But several deep holes have formed in the yard of her Clarksville home, and she says she's now too afraid to go outside. "We have this big crater here -- then we have this one," Starr said. "Then all these holes just keep getting bigger and bigger."
One of the holes nearly injured her husband when he stepped into it. "And when he stepped down -- I mean his whole [leg] up to his knee went down in the hole," Starr said.
Starr believes the holes are the result of sinkholes that originated on a strip of land behind their lot owned by their homeowners association. She says there were no signs of sinkholes when they bought their home in 2021. "It's coming up into our yard with these sinkholes and they're getting deeper and they're spreading out and getting wider," Starr said.
Starr reached out to their HOA management company, Timmons Properties, and says an engineer did come out to take a look — but that was a year and a half ago. "Every time it's been brought up to the HOA, [I've] been told we're working with the city, we're working with the city," Starr said.
I reached out to the City of Clarksville for this story. Street Department Director David Smith said in a statement, "It’s been on our radar and we've been communicating with the HOA.”
Starr says she's more than willing to hire her own engineers to fix her yard, but worries it could be a waste of time and money until the source of the problem on the HOA owned land is addressed. "Until I know this is fixed, then I'll take care of mine," Starr said. "Your backyard and your home is supposed to be your sanctuary. If you can't walk out in your backyard, then what do you do?"
Timmons Properties had not responded to a request for comment as of the publication of this story.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don't have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
- Lelan Statom
