LEMON GROVE, Calif. — Lemon Grove resident Shawn Farson and his neighbor Rosalinda Legge have lived with a collapsed storm drain pipe in their backyards for more than two years after it ruptured in January 2020. The neighbors have fought the city for two years in court to compel city officials to fix the pipe and repair the damage it caused.
The city, however, refused to do so. As a result, Farson faced an uphill battle legal battle, all as the broken pipe remained ruptured in his backyard.
“Very angry, very frustrated," said Farson. "I felt backed into a corner. I felt like I was about to lose everything.”
Now, after a costly legal battle, a San Diego Superior Court judge sided with the neighbors and against the city.
“It’s very surreal. It took a day or two for it to sink in but I’ll tell you, I feel very blessed right now that we were able to win this, the long fight, long and drawn out over two years, many, many sleepless nights wondering how this was going to end and I just feel so relieved for myself, for my family," said Farson. "We couldn’t be happier.”
The Rupture
The storm drain pipe ruptured during a severe winter storm in January 2020.
The rainwater enters the storm drain near the front of Farson and Legge's homes and funnels underneath their foundations to their backyards. A few dozen feet from their homes, the water gushes out from a large crack in the aged pipe, resulting in sinkholes and heavy erosion on the homeowner's property.
The city denies responsibility
Lemon Grove city officials say the corroded pipe is not its responsibility because it lies on private property.
The Farson's and the Legge's teamed up in a 2021 lawsuit to force the city to fix the storm pipe that is a part of the city's storm water system.
The city says that the issue dates back to 1960, when it and the county refused to classify the area as a storm water easement. The city says that means it does not "own, control, or maintain the storm drain pipe at issue."
The June 28th Ruling
On June 28th, San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil disagreed.
In part, Wohlfeil said the city chose not to pursue any ballot measures aimed at fixing its crumbling infrastructure and implemented a "wait until it breaks" policy.
By implementing a "wait until it breaks" policy, Judge Wohlfeil said the city of Lemon Grove effectively shifted responsibility to maintain the storm system from individual property owners to the community as a whole.
Added Wohlfeil in his ruling, "Damages that result from the inherent risks posed by the public entity's maintenance plan should be spread to the community that benefits from lower costs, instead of leaving property owners adversely affected by the public entity's choice to shoulder the burden alone."
The ruling was good news for the Farson and Legge families, who say the city tried to bankrupt them into settling the case.
“As a long-time active-duty military Navy SEAL, I frankly expect more from my city representatives and city to whom I already pay substantial taxes," said Farson. "The fact that city officials, and their enriched City Attorney, forced me to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to present and defend my case at trial is despicable and not ‘public service’ at all."
Farson's neighbor, Rosalinda Legge agrees.
"Having been fully stretched to the limits of our financial ability, and facing possible bankruptcy and the loss of our home, I cannot be more pleased and prouder to have stood up to the City’s unreasonable and oppressive effort to make me and my family pay to drain the city streets. Lemon Grove officials were essentially asking me to give up my home to pay for their public infrastructure and I said ‘no’ and fought. Every member of my family stepped-up and contributed financial resources in recognition of the need to fight the City in its effort to essentially foreclose and take our home.”
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