SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Carlsbad homeowners say their homes are in danger of flooding or sliding off a cliff.
They are fed up fighting with the city and turning to CBS 8 for help.
CBS 8 is Working for You to expose both the problem and the neighbor’s plea to make repairs.
In the Hillside Patio Homes neighborhood you can see a black tarp down a hillside where a chunk from under a house came down.
The house across the street from Joseph Nevins' home looks like a mud pit.
“Every time it rained it would bubble up into her living room, it was terrible,” said Nevins.
But it doesn’t have to rain for water to saturate their neighborhood.
“This is where it all started in 2005,” said Nevins.
He took CBS 8 above the neighborhood on Old Rancho Santa Fe Road where you could see a damaged fence above a home from a landslide that initially happened almost twenty years ago and again in 2017.
“It’s coming from all that irrigation, all those houses that were built and the [La Costa Town Square] shopping center,” said Nevins.
He said for years he could never get answers as to why water was seeping into their neighborhood.
“I started digging, I dug up reports, I dug up engineering, I dug up permits, all kinds of stuff and I started putting pieces together and I discovered there was a water leak a half a mile from here,” said Nevins.
Olivenhain Municipal Water District (OMWD) repaired a leak involved in prior litigation in 2020.
“The water is coming from the City property into the HOA,” said Nevins.
Over the years homeowners, including Nevins, have filed lawsuits and settled with the city and OMWD.
“The city is blowing money, paying attorneys to fight the problem where they could fix it for less than they are spending fighting it,” said Nevins.
His neighbor is using some of the settlement money to pay for new drainage that’s currently under construction.
CBS 8 reached out to the City of Carlsbad and OMWD and both say they don’t comment on pending litigation.
We followed up and pressed them for a better explanation, but both pointed to each other for further information.
CBS 8 asked for clarification since both have been involved in settlements which would mean they bear some responsibility for the water issues.
We want to know when this will be fixed for good.
OMWD said currently there are no leaks, and the prior leak that was involved in litigation was repaired in March 2020.
The city has not followed up with a response.
“The whole point is to fix it and it just continues, let’s stop this and cut it off,” said Nevins. “I don’t want to wake up one morning and sitting over nothing when the house goes.”
CBS 8 also reached out to the Hillside Patio Homes HOA. A PR person from property management company said they would work on our request for comment but we have not heard back.
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.