City of Reno released bonds for what residents say is a ‘fraudulent’ development by Toll Brothers

Somersett residents at The Cliffs development say the City of Reno has signed off on incomplete and “fraudulent” work by Toll Brothers, the builder that constructed the homes in their community. The Cliffs is a subdivision within Somersett comprising about 200 homes. Zillow lists homes at $1.4 million in the community “known for its stunning mountain views and rolling topography.”

Toll Brothers advertises the subdivision as a “private, gated enclave” resort with a golf course and “world-class” amenities. Most of the homes there have sold and are occupied, but some are still under construction.

Residents said they have been trying to raise awareness about what they called Toll Brothers’ poor workmanship, “deviation from architectural plans” and unsafe, incomplete hillside landscaping. They said the City of Reno has failed to enforce its own codes and requirements, which puts their homes at risk because of what they said was poor erosion control on the hillsides where their homes are located.

One resident said his property was hit with a mudslide.

“We have a small hillside behind our home with a culvert between the hillside and our backyard patio,” Cliffs resident Jeff Darling testified to the Reno City Council in April. “I had a 6 a.m. flight out one morning, and it rained heavily all night before I left. I thought I should check the backyard. What did I find? The culvert was completely backed up from the dirt, mud coming down from the hillside, [and] the water encroaching into our backyard and patio.”

A Toll Brothers spokesperson did not respond to residents’ allegations but said residents with concerns can contact the company’s customer service representative.

“Our hillsides are barren, marked by weeds and erosion.”

“In addition to poor workmanship and failures to comply with regulations and statutes, the company’s representatives are on record serially making fraudulent statements, and their own gross negligence in securing the neighborhood job site has resulted in two burglaries in recent months,” resident Karl Feigley told This Is Reno. 

Residents alleged poor construction practices, including bottles of urine and construction debris left in storm drains and crawl spaces. They also cited numerous negative online reviews of the company. 

“It’s clear the issues we’ve encountered are not exclusive to The Cliffs and deserve greater scrutiny and public awareness,” Feigley added.

Residents said that complaints to the Nevada State Contractors Board have been filed and closed as unsubstantiated. They said Toll Brothers did not follow civil engineering requirements, and one of their biggest concerns is that hillsides needed to be adequately graded and replanted with vegetation. The Cliffs is a hillside development. The city allows development on hills provided hillsides are replanted with vegetation, and developers must have performance bonds, which the city can use to hold the developer accountable. 

“The Reno City Council was provided with a petition in 2022 signed by homeowners regarding revegetation failures leading to hillside destabilization and erosion,” Feigley said. “Homeowners organized a neighborhood walk-through with Councilwoman [Kathleen] Taylor in Spring 2023. After not seeing any progress … I contacted Development Services and Councilman [Devon] Reese only to discover 90% of the millions of dollars in development and revegetation bonds were released several years ago.”

He added that Somersett residents are set to inherit the cost of what they said is incomplete and inadequate construction, particularly the problematic hillsides.

Mark Capalongan is a member of Somersett’s homeowners association (SOA) board. 

“We did contact the city about two years ago to say, ‘You need to help us out here,’” he said. “[Reno City Council member] Kathleen Taylor came up, and about 10 homeowners and … myself all walked portions of the hillsides that we have concerns with here with her and pointed out, ‘Look, there’s no irrigation here, you can see that there’s none of this is planted.’

“It wasn’t probably three months later that another $100,000 [of a bond] was released [by the city],” he added. “Did she do anything? Obviously, she didn’t look into this to where they held up the bonds … without inspection.”

“The City previously relied on the letter from a licensed Landscape Architect to verify the revegetation is complete, whereas we now also do a separate additional field inspection.”– Angela Fuss, City of Reno

The petition signed by residents was given to the City of Reno in 2022. They cited concerns over “revegetation failures leading to hillside destabilization and erosion.” This Is Reno visited the development in May and confirmed sprinklers on the hillsides were disconnected and inoperable. Residents said they’ve never seen them turned on.

“Our hillsides are barren, marked by weeds and erosion,” Feigley told the Reno City Council in April. “I’m primarily here today to speak to the cavalier attitude expressed by this company’s representatives, which would lead an average person to believe this company believes and operates as if no one — not the federal government, not the state government, not the state contractors board, or even the City of Reno and development services — will hold them accountable to the civil engineering and architectural plans that they have submitted to the development.”

City changes review process after complaints

The conflict drew not one but two Reno City Manager memos drafted to the city’s council — both in April. The April 8, 2024 memo by the city’s assistant development services director, Angela Fuss, acknowledged bonds had been released by the city. One was in 2015, and another was in 2020. One more is pending completion, but about $46,000 of that bond was released in 2023 — after residents had already complained to the city about Toll Brothers.

“There is still a partial bond remaining for the broader mass grading of the 43 acres of common open space, including the erosion and hydroseeding on the steeper slopes,” Fuss wrote. “Once Toll Brothers is ready to move forward with the full bond release, they will be required to submit a letter from a licensed Landscape Architect confirming the area has been revegetated. City staff will then go out and do a site inspection to verify the revegetation has been achieved.”

Fuss assured the council a newly hired staff member would do a field inspection — something the city had not been doing until the residents complained.

“The City recently hired an Associate Planner Specialist, who is tasked with doing an additional field inspection on all landscape/revegetation bonds,” Fuss added. “This is a new process that the City had not previously done. The City previously relied on the letter from a licensed Landscape Architect to verify the revegetation is complete, whereas we now also do a separate additional field inspection.”

City officials meet with angry residents

In late May, city officials met with residents to address their concerns. The meeting, attended by dozens, got heated. Capalongan said city officials told the residents they would not let Toll Brothers leave The Cliffs development unfinished. Fuss participated in the meeting and assured residents the city would not sign off on the bonds until the project is completed to the city’s satisfaction — even if it takes years.

“We know those slopes have not been vegetated to your satisfaction — nor to our satisfaction,” she told the crowd. 

She also defended Toll Brothers.

“I’ve never seen them walk out on any development,” Fuss said. “They try their best to do what they can to meet our codes and requirements. We’re meeting them separately as well to let them know that this is not OK. We want to make sure they go above and beyond.” 

At one point in the meeting, residents began raising their voices at city officials.

“Where is the enforcement? Where are the fines? Where is the legal adjudication against the developer?”

“There are civil engineering regulations being violated,” Feigley said. “Where is the enforcement? Where are the fines? Where is the legal adjudication against the developer for failing to follow civil engineer plans? It’s been six years. They already know they are being bad.”

Council member Reese said he agreed with the residents that Toll Brothers “have not been good partners,” but city staff will help residents fix the problem, which will take more time. 

“We have elevated this in a way that it has never been elevated before,” he said. “We will try to fix what we can fix.”

Residents asked and demanded the city increase enforcement and oversight. City officials said any citations for code violations could be appealed, which could delay the process if it ends in litigation. Not all residents were reassured.

“It just seemed like there was zero oversight of this developer by the city,” Feigley told This Is Reno. “The whole content of the meeting felt like the city wasn’t acknowledging that they have a responsibility to do something about this until homeowners started getting angry and getting very directed in their questioning that made it very clear that they do have a responsibility to do something about this.”

Feigley said that, after the meeting, he did not hear about progress from the city. He filed code enforcement complaints about sprinklers not properly connected and dead vegetation. He said several city ordinances were being violated, including those dealing with noxious weeds, erosion control and runoff.

“We have to tell them explicitly to do their job,” he said. “I was very specific about what and where and what was [being violated].”

The city’s Reno Direct response to Feigley claimed, “No dead vegetation is visible, and everything appears to be working properly. No violations are present.”

Feigley disputed the city’s response since he provided photographs showing dead vegetation and disconnected sprinklers.

“The code enforcement officer never went beyond the gate,” he said. “I restated what was in the complaint and resent it.” 

Toll Brothers mum on allegations

A Toll Brothers representative did not respond to the numerous allegations made by residents at the April Reno City Council meeting. Instead, she said residents can contact the company with their concerns.

“Toll Brothers has a 57-year history of standing behind our communities,” Toll Brothers’ public relations representative Andrea Meck said. “Our work at the common areas within The Cliffs at Somersett is ongoing and, when complete, we intend to review the area with the City of Reno and [homeowners association] board. We encourage the HOA board and any Toll Brothers homeowner to reach out to us directly with any concerns.”

Homeowners said the company refuses to meet with them. The company’s local attorney, Lucas Foletta, wrote in January that the company would only meet with the homeowners association about the subdivision’s common areas once the work is finished. 

“Toll respectfully declines the invitation to meet with the association regarding the remaining common area parcels including the slope area,” Foletta wrote to the homeowners’ attorney. “Toll has not asked the Association to accept transfer of the slope areas and thus no meeting is necessary at present.”

“There is nothing ‘luxury’ about chasing down a multibillion-dollar developer from skipping out on fulfilling its contractual obligations.”

In March, Donna O’Connell, also with Toll Brothers, wrote to the Somersett Owners Association. She said the company planted “natural vegetation,” but later did not like how that looked. SOA turned down the company’s proposal for further enhancements, “stating the rocks did not conform to [the Aesthetic Guidelines Committee requirements] and are not aesthetically pleasing.”

“While the Somersett Board continues to refer to ‘plantings’ in their denial, the original, approved set of plans does not call for plantings,” she wrote. “Natural vegetation is what is approved only. Natural vegetation consists of native plant species you as owners refer to as weeds and have requested Toll remove on multiple occasions.”

The homeowners association, in mid-April, fired back at Toll Brothers through an email to residents.

“The SOA has pressed repeatedly for a meeting, and a plan of completion from Toll Brothers, which has been met with denial,” residents wrote. “We continue to demand completion that is consistent with the original plans, and we’ve denied last-minute alternatives using riprap instead of natural groundcovers.”

The board even hired a civil engineering firm that, they said, has drafted a list of deficient items, which they gave to Toll Brothers. Residents called Toll Brothers’ work “a job half done. Our only ask is that they meet their obligations under the original city-approved plans. That’s it.” 

Once the project is finished, the SOA will have to maintain the disputed areas if they are not properly constructed to what residents said were the original development requirements. In mid-June, Toll Brothers’ Meck said the company will meet with the board when the work at the development is complete.

“That offer still stands,” she reiterated, encouraging residents to contact their “customer care representative for any question related to their homes or community.”

Feigley disputed the company’s tone.

“For 21 months, this company has stated to homeowners it has performed according to the civil plans, and only now Toll Brothers finds its hands caught in the proverbial cookie jar,” he told This Is Reno. “There is nothing ‘luxury’ about chasing down a multibillion-dollar developer from skipping out on fulfilling its contractual obligations. 

“Addressing this issue has cost homeowners hundreds of hours in time and tens of thousands of dollars in civil engineering studies to Somersett so it could protect its residents from being exploited,” he added. “I think Toll Brothers owes the community much more than just completing its original obligations for the trouble it has caused.”

City staff repeatedly said the city would not release the remaining bond — worth about $60,000 — until they can verify completion of the project.

“We have committed to all parties involved that the final remaining revegetation bond will not be released until such time as staff is comfortable that the revegetation has grown in accordance with the approved landscape plan,” Fuss wrote.

That will take at least two growing seasons, if not longer. Fuss also said Toll Brothers must revegetate the hillsides “in accordance with the approved landscape plan.”