COSTA MESA : Project Blamed for Damage to Homes

Lori Costa was awakened one night recently by “huge popping sounds like a hot water heater.” When she got up to seek the source of the mysterious noise, she saw the Italian ceramic tiles that adorn her home cracking before her eyes.

Costa later conferred with neighbors and found that they were experiencing similar troubles--cracked pools, fences, floors, kitchen walls and cement foundations.

Last week, Costa and 10 other homeowners filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against several government agencies demanding compensation for the damage in their North Mesa Verde homes, which they contend have been severely damaged by construction of the nearby Greenville-Banning Flood Control Channel along the Santa Ana River.

“My patio is cracked in half,” Costa said. “The concrete foundation of my house is crumbling and my walls are coming apart. They don’t even touch any more.”

The claim names the County of Orange Environmental Agency, the Orange County Flood Control District, Orange County Sanitation District and the city of Costa Mesa. The $10-million Greenville-Banning project began in April and is scheduled to be complete in mid-1993. It is the first phase of the decade-long, $1.4 billion public works improvement plan.

Costa Mesa Risk Manager Karen Adams foresees no city responsibility for the damages because city crews were not involved in the construction.

“We are still investigating the role the city had, if any,” Adams said. “Just because something goes through our jurisdictional bounds doesn’t mean we are always the responsible body.”

The county will also investigate the claim, but county risk manager Maria Bastanchury would not comment on the county’s potential liability for the homeowners’ problems.

Terrie Medeiros, project manager for the Orange County Flood Control District, said the residents’ complaints were “amazing,” adding that thus far no link between the damage and the project has been established.

“It’s hard to say why (the tiles) cracked,” said Medeiros. “Some of the homes are quite a ways away from the project.”

Fullerton attorneys Warren B. Wimer and Randall J. Friend said the 11 homeowners first noticed damage during the summer, when large amounts of soil were moved to widen the walls of the channel, which is within several blocks of their clients’ homes.

“Some of these homes are not even marketable at this point,” said Friend. The 11 homes, on New Hampshire, Europa and Sandpiper drives and Iowa Street, have market values ranging from $260,000 to $600,000, he said.

Costa, who bought her house a year ago, said if she had known about the construction project, she would not have bought the $350,000 home.

“My home insurance does not cover damages from land soil movement,” she said. “I could never sell it in this condition. Now I stand to lose everything because (the agencies) decided to dig behind my house and be negligent. I put every dime of my life savings into this house.”