His neighbor, Sam Alba, moved to the area in February.
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"There's no way they can elevate this and build a house on an interior lot at 55 feet but obviously they are going to give it a shot," Dawson said.
Dawson spent a few hundred dollars of his own money putting together a makeshift dam between the properties, hoping to prevent a rush of water from the higher elevation next door.
"It got to the point where it didn't drain at all. It filled up on the side yard," he said.
Neighbors on Sage Creek Court say the lot has been empty for nine years after the subdivision was built. Earlier this year, a builder brought dirt in, built up the site about four and a half feet, and started construction.
They didn't get far before halting work a couple of months ago.
"It's pretty ridiculous that they would not conform with the rest of the HOA requirements that every house is supposed to look somewhat the same," Alba said.
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The builder, K. Hovnanian Homes, has not responded to ABC13's calls to find out the status of the project and address concerns.
Alba says he did his research before buying his home and it wasn't an area of Richmond that flooded during Harvey or other recent floods.
"I don't want to go to the expense and inconvenience of tearing out wood floors and maybe dealing with mold," Alba said.
Now, they both fear any hard rain will force rushing water their way.
"They have done very little to alleviate the problem with drainage and what they have done hasn't worked," Dawson added.