A wealthy beach town is in turmoil as officials rip out backyard swimming pools to repair a sewer line, sparking outrage and lawsuits from homeowners desperate to halt the destruction.

Crews moved in on a stretch of Rhone Lane in Huntington Beach, demolishing pools, patios, and other backyard features above a 30-foot-wide sewer easement running through about 30 properties, according to the Daily Mail.

The underground line — dating back over 60 years — is controlled by the Orange County Sanitation District, which says it has the legal right to access the land and remove any obstructions to the pipeline so it can carry out repairs and maintenance.

However, residents say the situation has gone far beyond just allowing access.

“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,” homeowner Tony Shahidi told ABC7, adding he stands to lose $350,000 of equity if part of his backyard is demolished.

Many pools were installed years ago with city permits, homeowners said, but they were never warned that the structures could be torn out.

Now, several residents have filed lawsuits, arguing the district is effectively seizing private property without proper compensation.

The dispute has split the neighborhood. Some homeowners have agreed with the district to allow the work to continue. One of them, Ted Beresford, spoke to CBS in March.

“It’s been total, unmitigated chaos,” Beresford explained. “Unnecessary destruction. They’ve taken out the pool. They have destroyed the yard for no reason,” Beresford said.

Beresford said that when he agreed to terms allowing crews to access the 1950s-built sewer easement, he didn’t expect the district to take one-third of his backyard.

Officials insist the work is necessary, maintaining that anything built within the easement must be removed to ensure crews can safely access and repair the aging sewer line. The sanitation district said pools and backyards on the street have limited its ability to perform repairs and preventive maintenance, and it has no other way to gain access than through demolition.

Jennifer Cabral, the Director of Communications for OC Sanitation, spoke with The Daily Mail, saying, “The pipeline in this area collects and transports 10–25 million gallons of raw wastewater every day from 9 different cities.

“The need for this work is driven by the age of the infrastructure and the importance of proactive maintenance. If access is restricted and maintenance is delayed, it increases the risk of sewer overflows, environmental harm, and impacts to public health.”

As the legal fight continues, demolition has started, leaving once-luxurious backyards torn up and turning the quiet coastal neighborhood into a center of debate over property rights and public infrastructure.