SLO property owner sues city for storm damages 

The city of San Luis Obispo became the latest in the county to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit from disgruntled constituents who suffered damages from the January 2023 storms.

"When will they ever take on responsibility, or even, like, offer to help?" SLOtography owner Blake Andrews said. "Because there's no one in the city in a formal setting that's offered to help. I'm guessing it's not in the best interest of the city to offer to help, because clearly their stance on these things is to reject all claims and just be kind of generally unreasonable."

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• CREEK CURE In the aftermath of the record rainstorms in 2023, the city of SLO tried to reinforce the SLO Creek bank by diverting the creek's full flow of water through a narrow pipe.

Andrews' mother, Katchy Andrews, owns the mixed-use building at 515 Broad St. that houses businesses, including SLOtography, along with some residential spaces. She granted Andrews power of attorney over the property, which lies adjacent to the city-managed Old Garden Creek.

In January 2024, the mother and son sued the city of SLO for damages allegedly incurred from a culvert being constructed near their property. Their lawsuit states that the city's reported failure to maintain the culvert and Old Garden Creek resulted in the culvert cracking and becoming damaged on the side of the building.

Eroding soil caused the downstream side of the building wall to shift, according to the suit. A riprap slope protection above the culvert also failed during the storms, leading to redirection of flow in the creek channel and scouring the earth below the property's wall. They said that water and other materials streamed into the building and caused even more damage.

"The city knew or should have known that the culvert and Old Garden Creek were incompatible to properly drain surface waters and mud and silt from reasonably foreseeable rainstorms such that damage to private property was probable, unless the drainage through the culvert and Old Garden Creek and its drainage channels were properly designed, constructed, or managed," the lawsuit reads.

The city rejected the claim for damages in October 2023, stating that they had six months from the date of the notice to file a court action.

"The city evaluated the specific claim and concluded that the Andrews' private property damage was not caused by any action of the city and, therefore, the city cannot pay the costs associated with the storm damage on private property with public dollars, absent evidence that the city' actions were the cause of the damages," SLO attorney Christine Dietrick told New Times.

Blake Andrews said he ran into a dead end with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), too. Pursuing financial assistance from the agency was a "waste of time."

"FEMA was only supporting private homes, like not apartment buildings," he said. "Because it wasn't a primary residence, they weren't willing to contribute, which is a whole other can of worms."

Other parts of SLO County are also embroiled in legal battles stemming from the historic storms.

The county, the city of Paso Robles, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) face a lawsuit for damages pertaining to negligence, dangerous condition of public property, failure to warn, survival action, emotional distress, and wrongful death from the parents of San Miguel's missing 5-year-old Kyle Doan.

Oceano residents Pat and Victoria Cardoza filed a complaint against SLO County last September for general negligence and property damage stemming from the southside breach of the Arroyo Grande Creek levee. Their action demands an unspecified amount that exceeds $25,000.

At least two different residents have sued the city of Atascadero over alleged city-caused damages during the storms as well.

The city of SLO plans to object to the complaint through a demurrer hearing on Oct. 31.

"We've had no help in terms of providing like a collaborative effort towards fixing the wall in the creek," Andrews said. "In fact, the most recent thing that we received was a notification to correct some graffiti that somebody has done on the wall, which is on our property. It's on the culvert wall as well, which the city hasn't fixed." Δ