In 2018, a retaining wall collapsed in the 300 block of Glen Echo Road in Mt. Airy.

The wall stretches across a shared driveway, running behind 26 properties between Glen Echo Road and West Mt. Pleasant Avenue. The collapse happened in the middle section, knocking trees into power lines, blocking the driveway, and crushing cars in the way.

Shortly thereafter, the city installed a concrete barrier that blocked off parts of the driveway. The Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) placed a violation on the properties as well.

The neighbors were then left with the question, “Who will fix this?”

The wall is located on private property shared among the 26 properties. However, gathering enough money from each neighbor to contribute to the repairs, especially when some of the properties are vacant, would be difficult, especially since these types of repairs can cost over $1 million.

The Glen Echo neighbors aren’t alone in this issue, as 50- to even 100-year-old retaining walls can be found around the city, often on private property. Repairing those walls is costly, and when they fail, they can cause a lot of damage.

The neighbors eventually decided to sue the city to get it to fix the wall, as repairing it themselves did not seem feasible.

That lawsuit ended in an agreement in March 2023, in which the neighbors dropped the case in exchange for “the City’s assurances and representations that it will voluntarily and swiftly abate the unsafe and/or imminently dangerous conditions of the Glen Echo Road retaining wall,” according to the settlement agreement.

Since then, nothing has been repaired.

“None of our neighbors have had use or access to our alley in eight years because the city put the barriers up and then hasn’t done anything since,” David Trapp, one of the neighbors, told the Local. “Trees have fallen as a result of the wall collapsing. The disturbance to the soil [has] taken down power lines, cable lines, and that’s created access issues, because utility companies can’t get to the things that [need to be repaired].”

The city’s Office of Transportation Infrastructure and Sustainability (OTIS) was set to handle the repair through the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI). However, NPI did not have enough funding to complete the cleanup and repair, with neighbors saying they were told that their project alone would dry up the program’s funds.

In the meantime, neighbors have been left with open L&I violations on their properties, making it difficult to obtain permits for things like construction or plumbing upgrades.

Jennifer McGuire, another neighbor, told the Local, “The initial retaining wall collapse was right behind our house and our neighbors.’ We were incredibly lucky that our homes weren’t damaged; as it was, a car... was crushed. There were several subsequent smaller collapses, including one that happened just after my husband and children had been working out back, clearing leaves from the part of the driveway we could still get access to.”

Neighbors are also worried that other sections of the wall could collapse, creating a larger problem.

“It buckled as you keep going down away from it, where it fully collapsed. So parts of it are jutting out and look imminent to collapse next,” Nick Huber, one of the neighbors, told the Local. “[The city] is well aware and has certainly acknowledged that this is not okay and not safe for us to live with. But … I have no idea where the city’s at” with the repairs.

“It’s been a danger ever since, and we’ve spent nearly eight years trying to get help,” Maguire said. “We were finally able to get the city to come remove trees from the properties on Mt. Pleasant that were actively threatening to fall on our homes, which was a relief.”

She added: “When OTIS and the NPI staff started actively giving us plans and timelines for the new build, we were all ecstatic, expecting the city was finally going to meet its obligations. Then the NPI was shuttered abruptly, and we’re left in limbo again, with piles of rocks and debris, walls still in danger of collapsing, and no end in sight to getting our homes back the way they should be. We want the city to honor the settlement and repair our wall.”

Throughout this process, the neighbors have been in contact with Councilmember Cindy Bass’ office, which had been looking into the issue of retaining walls around the city due to the high costs and hazards of aging walls. Neighbors said the last they heard, the city was looking for potential funding through the Mayor’s HOME initiative.

The Local reached out to Bass’ office for an update, but as of 2 p.m. Monday (which was a holiday), they had not responded.

The neighbors are hoping for an update from the city and that the issue can be resolved soon. As it stands, they say the collapse poses a risk to the homeowners, and the open L&I violations are affecting potential upgrades and sales of their houses.