Suit: 'Idyllic' Fla. Development Contained Bombs, Toxic Waste

More than 400 Orlando-area homeowners are suing land developers who built houses on the site of a World War II aircraft bombing range that still contains unexploded bombs and toxic chemicals.

Over the past year the Army Corps of Engineers discovered hundreds of pounds of ammunition, unexploded bombs and toxic chemicals on land that formerly housed the Pinecastle Bombing Range in central Florida.

Thousands of homes and a middle school were built on the 12,000-acre site.

Homeowner Thomas Beard filed suit in the Orange County 9th Judicial Circuit Court on behalf of all people who own homes developed by Hovnanian Enterprises and other defendants on or near the bombing range site.

Beard's suit is one of three recently filed against the developers of the Vista Lakes Pinecastle properties.

He alleges that the developers knew the land was dangerous and negligently failed to remove the debris or warn prospective buyers.

The suit seeks damages and an order directing the defendants to buy back the homes or pay for their lost value.

In July a live bomb was discovered behind Odyssey Middle School, and in December the city of Orlando suspended all building permits, citing safety concerns.

In the 1940s the range served as a mock war zone for testing bombs and an instruction area for pilot trainees.

The suit alleges that the debris left over from the bombing has exposed the homeowners to dangerous chemicals. The value of the plaintiffs' homes has decreased and the properties are uninsurable, it adds.

In addition the number of mortgage defaults has increased over the past year, according to the complaint.

"Plaintiff and class members face the impending loss of their homeowners insurance," the suit says. "When that happens, plaintiff and the class will face potential default on their mortgages because they are required as a condition of their mortgages to have and to maintain homeowners insurance."

Last year the Pinecastle area's rate of foreclosure was four times that of the rest of Orlando.

The defendants advertised the Vista Lakes development as "idyllic," containing miles of trails and nature preserves, according to the complaint.

The suit alleges violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act because the ads were false and misleading and the defendants did not disclose that the land was dangerous.

In addition the defendants breached their contracts with the homeowners by selling unsafe houses and were unjustly enriched by accepting money for property that was inherently dangerous, according to the complaint.

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The plaintiffs are represented by Robert J. Robbins of Caughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins in Boca Raton, Fla.