Old San Juan Road Homeowners Sue City for Flood Damage

The owners of a $2.5-million home near El Camino Real Park are suing the city for more than $25,000 to recover costs associated with the flood damage their home sustained in December. They say the city's storm drains don't allow for adequate drainage.

The property, at 31502 Old San Juan Rd., owned by Guy Glaser and Letty Bassler-Glaser, "was damaged when water, mud, rocks and debris invaded their home," a suit filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court states.

In the suit, the Glasers allege that the city was aware and had "constructive notice of the dangerous condition caused by the [drainage system] since October 2004," when flooding occurred in the same vicinity.

The Glasers are seeking more than $25,000 in damages but have yet to determine a concrete dollar amount, their attorney Craig M. Collins said.

Their home was one of many in San Juan Capistrano that flooded just before Christmas, when about 10 inches of rain fell in less than one week. City staffers have estimated that the torrential downpours spurred 12 mudslides. Residents in low-lying neighborhoods such as the Glasers' reported as much as 1 foot of water inside their homes. 

In their suit, the Glasers say their home is next to a hillside from which water runs off and funnels into nearby city-owned storm drains. They want the city to pay for their loss in property value, costs to repair the flood-related damage, costs for engineers and geologists to the analyze the damage to their property, emotional distress and their attorney fees.