Suit Blames Flooding on Toll Road
About 25 business owners along rustic Laguna Canyon Road are seeking more than $5 million in damages, alleging that negligent construction practices on the San Joaquin Hills toll road project caused major property damage from flooding.
The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court by the Laguna Canyon Property Owners Assn., contends that the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency failed to use adequate retention basins and ignored its own environmental impact reports that required preventive measures.
Belinda Blacketer of Laguna Beach, the association’s attorney, said Wednesday that the agency reneged on a promise to install the basins and take other steps before grading for the canyon link of the 17-mile toll road started last December.
Soon after the grading began, a rainstorm washed tons of debris through the canyon, damaging many properties along the way, she said.
Lisa Telles, a spokeswoman for the transportation corridor agency, said Wednesday that officials would not comment because they had not seen the lawsuit.
Also listed as defendants in the suit filed Friday are Orange County and the county Flood Control District.
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