First Posted: 3/13/2015
BUCKEYE LAKE — Ron and Susie Santavicca are putting the final touches on their Buckeye Lake retirement home.
Now they hope there will be a lake to go with their lakefront dream.
The Santaviccas are among an estimated 1,600 Buckeye Lake homeowners wondering what will become of their investment after the Army Corps of Engineers warned this week that the lake may have to be drained because the dam is unstable.
“This was quite a shock,” said Ron Santavicca, who built much of the two-story home himself on property his grandfather bought in the 1940s.
“I worked 35 years as a letter carrier. I was very money-conscious all my life. I was very thrifty so I could retire,” said the 70-year-old. “This was going to be our retirement.”
Home sellers and their real-estate agents are hopeful a solution can be found that will preserve the lake because they know Buckeye Lake home values float heavily on water.
“It will be hard to sell a house on the lake without the water,” said Carla Peters, a RE/MAX One agent who is listing three homes for sale on the lake. “It hugely affects values.”
Almost 50 lakefront homes are for sale, ranging from a $67,900 two-bedroom cottage on a channel to an $800,000 four-bedroom home with a commanding waterfront view from on top of the lake’s earthen dam.
Resident Michael Kappas turned off his phone at 10 p.m. Wednesday after hearing all day from worried friends and neighbors.
“Everyone’s concerned,” Kappas said.
Kappas and his wife, Sharon, have more reason than most to be concerned. They recently listed their home in the lake’s prestigious Heron Bay development in anticipation of moving to a smaller home closer to their children in Columbus.
“It’s disappointing because the activity has been phenomenal. There’s been a lot of interest in the house,” said Kappas, who has lived on the lake 17 years.
“Needless to say, an announcement like this will understandably bring a halt to the sale of homes out there, at least in the interim.”
Buckeye Lake real-estate agents say buyer interest in the lake has been robust until now, even with a brutal winter.
“We had a phenomenal first quarter,” said Marnita Swickard, a Keller Williams agent who has sold homes on the lake for 20 years. “The market’s been strong.”
Swickard spent yesterday trying to calm “panicked” sellers. She noted that draining the lake is the most extreme option mentioned in the report and she remains confident another solution will be found.
Her mood was buoyed yesterday when she received a call asking to show an $800,000 home she is selling on the dam.
“Everybody knows they won’t drain Buckeye Lake permanently,” she said. “Will this set us back? Sure.”
Lou Maresca, vice president of the Buckeye Lake Civic Association, said the effect of the Army Corps report was immediate.
“It’s already had an impact,” Maresca said. “I’ve heard that Realtors have already lost contracts.”
Not only do individual homeowners stand to take a huge hit, but a severe drop in home values will have a deep impact on public services, said Maresca, Kappas and others.
“When you stop to think about the impact of property values on those counties — Perry, Licking and Fairfield — and the dramatic impact of those revenues on schools, fire and police protection and jobs, the impact is phenomenal,” Kappas said.
Jerry Besanceney, who is trying to sell one of two condominiums he owns on the north side of the lake, is hopeful a solution to the failing dam will be found, but as a former Army colonel, he knows the Army Corps report is serious.
“I respect the Army Corps,” he said. “To me, you have to let science lead the way. That’s the only thing that makes sense. You can’t endanger people because we don’t want to lose jobs and property on the lake.”
Besanceney knows the report dries up much of the market for a lakefront condominium, but he’s keeping his property on the market.
“I haven’t given up all hope,” he said. “It will be difficult, admittedly. … I think it’s still sellable.”
While waiting to see what happens, Ron and Susie Santavicca will continue polishing their retirement home.
“I still need to tile a bathroom,” Ron said. “There’s things I still need to finish.”
