Lawsuit Demands That City Pay for Fixing Root-Damaged Walks

A group of Canoga Park homeowners who were ordered by the city to pay for the repair of tree-damaged sidewalks filed suit Wednesday to force the city to assume the costs.

The lawsuit, filed in Van Nuys Superior Court, contends that the city is legally responsible for sidewalk damage caused by street trees because it directs the planting and care of the trees. The suit was filed as a class action, seeking to represent all city residents whose sidewalks have been damaged by city trees.

“We think it’s fundamentally unfair and a violation of the Constitution of the State of California for the city to damage private property and then assess the property owner for the damage,” said the homeowners’ attorney, Roger Diamond.

City officials contend that they are empowered by the state Improvement Act of 1911 to bill homeowners for the sidewalk repairs.

In the early 1970s, the Los Angeles City Council started to repair sidewalks at city expense, but the program was discontinued in 1976 because of the cost.

In 1981, the city began to order sidewalk repairs in areas where “slip and fall” claims had been filed. Homeowners were given the option of contracting to have the repairs made or leaving the work to the city and being assessed the cost.

City officials said that repair orders since have been sent to about 2,700 property owners and that about 1,700 let the city do the work.

The homeowners on Lena Avenue in Canoga Park appealed the bills. Their lawsuit lists assessments from $361.21 to $4,008.06 against 18 homeowners.

When the City Council voted 10 to 1 against their appeals last month, the Lena Avenue homeowners formed an organization called ROOTS (Residents Outraged Over Trees and Sidewalks) and hired Diamond.

The lawsuit seeks to represent homeowners who have paid for sidewalk repairs, those who refused to pay and those with damaged sidewalks who have not yet been ordered to make repairs.

The suit asks the court to nullify all current assessments for damage by city trees and to order the return of all money paid by homeowners for damage by city trees. It also asks the court to stop the city from assessing homeowners for sidewalk repairs.

Assistant City Atty. Gary Netzer said he had not yet seen the suit and did not know whether courts have ruled previously on the city’s sidewalk repair policy.

City officials contend that it would be impossible for the city to pay for repairs of all the sidewalks that have been cracked by tree roots.

At last month’s hearing, Norman Giard, chief of the street use inspection division, told City Council that there are about 150,000 homes with broken sidewalks. He said it would cost $120 million to $150 million to repair them and at least $27 million more to remove the trees.

Diamond said the lawsuit is scheduled for trial April 22.