Baltimore residents say city won't pay for sinkhole damage as it prepares to reopen North Avenue

BALTIMORE -- City officials are preparing to reopen a part of North Avenue that has been off-limits following the development of a large sinkhole, according to the office of Mayor Brandon Scott.

The stretch of North Avenue between Greenmount Avenue and Homewood Avenue will reopen on Monday, the mayor's staff said in a press statement issued on Sunday.

That section of the roadway will be available for public use starting at 5 a.m., staff said.

But the dedicated westbound bus and bike line between Homewood Avenue and Boone Street will remain closed while utility and roadway restoration work continue, according to the office of Mayor Brandon Scott.

Additionally, the section of North Avenue between Homewood Avenue and East 20th Street will remain closed until all of the repair work is complete, staff said.

A portion of North Avenue—one of Baltimore's heavily traveled roads—was initially closed to traffic because a sinkhole developed along the sidewalk after a 115-year-old drain collapsed.

The sinkhole initially developed in front of two houses on the busy street. It slowly grew until it took some homes down with it.

The city has had to make "extensive repairs" to underground utilities in the area, according to the office of Mayor Brandon Scott.

The construction of a new concrete storm drain was even warranted, staff said.

Now, people who lost their homes to the sinkhole say they're upset because the city will not compensate them for their homes.

"It's traumatic," homeowner Monique Bess said. "You come here and there was a property here and now it's nothing."

Bess and Quentin Bell owned two of the three houses that had to be torn down due to the sinkhole that opened up on the sidewalk in July.

They filed a claim with their insurance but were told that the city needed to pay for the damage.

But the city, in turn, says it won't pay for the damage to their property because it was not properly notified about the problem.

Bess and Bell say there is no way to predict when and where a sinkhole will develop though. Now, they're working with local attorney Thiru Vignarajah to resolve the problem.

"They've inherited this problem because they were trying to build homes here," Vignarajah said. "They were trying to invest here and the city didn't do their job. And now, they're pointing fingers, saying, 'Why didn't you tell us about it.' They knew about it. People have been talking about the crumbling infrastructure in Baltimore for decades."

WJZ reached out to a city spokesperson for comment on the letter the homeowners received and is waiting to hear back.