Homeowners in a wealthy California city are fighting the Orange County Sanitation District in court over its efforts to demolish their pools and backyards in the name of sewer maintenance.
In Huntington Beach, a coastal city in the Los Angeles area, a more than 60-year-old pipeline that runs under the backyards of 29 houses is in need of repair.
The properties have easements, which is a legal right that allows certain parties utility access. In order to gain access to the underground pipeline, however, the Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) needs to dig up large portions of homeowners' yards.
Thirteen residents on the street have settled with the sanitation district, which has offered to cover the cost of demolition in return. The remaining homeowners have not consented to have their properties torn up and have taken OC San to court.
Tony Shahidi, one of those non-consenting property owners, told KABC: 'Easement means access, but OC Sanitation sees this as no, they want possession.'
'And that's what they've done. Effectively, they are taking possession of these people's lands without giving them any kind of monetary consideration,' Shahidi explained.
The median sale price of homes in Huntington Beach is $1.35 million, according to Redfin. Shahidi said that if the sanitation district demolishes his backyard, he will lose '$350,000 of equity' in his house.
The sanitation district has said that pools and backyards on the street have limited its ability to perform repairs and preventative maintenance on the pipeline, and it has no way to gain access other than through demolition.
Tony Shahidi and other Huntington Beach homeowners are suing the Orange County Sanitation District over its efforts to demolish their backyards in order to perform maintenance on an aging sewer pipeline. Shahidi said that if his yard is torn up, he would lose $350,000 of equity
OC San has said that it has no way to perform repairs without demolishing the backyards, which are part of an easement. A demolished pool on the street is pictured
That has made homeowners frustrated with the city, as they are now questioning why their requests to modify their yards were approved if those areas were part of the easement.
Homeowner Frank Clark, who purchased his house 55 years ago, told KABC that his plans to build a pool on his property were approved in 1973, and he thought 'that was a done deal.'
But he has been told the pool now has to go as it sits on the sewer easement – something that he finds 'outrageous.'
If Clark, Shahidi and the other homeowners fighting OC San in court lose their case, they could be responsible for paying to cover the costs of their own property's demolition. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 1.
Some homeowners who settled with the sanitation district regret the decision and were shocked by the level of damage to their properties.
Ted Beresford told CBS News that since demolition at his property began last month, 'It's been total, unmitigated chaos.'
'Unnecessary destruction. They've taken out the pool. They have destroyed the yard for no reason,' he added before noting that he did not expect the sanitation district to remove one-third of his backyard.
Echoing Shahidi, the other homeowner on the street, Beresford also said: 'I know there was an easement, however, an easement is not ownership. An easement is access. OC Sanitation interpreted this as an ownership.'
Frank Clark, another homeowner on the street, questioned why his plan to build a pool in his yard was approved by the city if it was part of the easement
The median sale price of homes in Huntington Beach is $1.35 million, according to Redfin. An aerial view of the city, which is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, is pictured
If the court rules in favor of the suing homeowners, it is unclear what will happen to the properties that have already had their yards demolished.
But a spokesperson for OC San told KABC that the settlements signed by those individuals are binding, no matter what the court rules.
'We do understand that it's emotional. There's an impact. It's jarring,' the spokesperson added in a statement.
'There is an easement on the property in which they purchased. And there are encroachments, and they've continued to get worse over time,' the spokesperson continued.
'If we don't start correcting it today, when's the right time? When the pipeline breaks and we have ten million gallons of raw sewage impacting thousands of people?'
The Daily Mail has reached out to OC San for further comment, as well as the city of Huntington Beach.