A University Heights man said he was fed up over the city’s lack of action regarding a recurring flood problem caused by faulty city property.
Rob Baldwin, a 45-year resident of Arch Street in University Heights, said the combination of heavy rains, an eroded curb, and living at the bottom of a hill has made flooding a periodic problem.
But the main issue, he said, is the badly eroded curb that allows water to rise up from the street, onto the sidewalk and into his front yard, right up to his house.
“When it is really raining heavy you can kayak on the sidewalk,” Baldwin said.
He first started dealing with the flooding five years ago and since then he’s had to replaster and repaint his flooded laundry room three different times.
After filing a service request on the “Get It Done” app, and reaching out to councilmember Chris Ward and the Mayor’s office, Baldwin said he’s fed up.
Chris Ward’s office told NBC 7 they have been in contact with Baldwin for one year and have forwarded Baldwin’s concerns to the city of San Diego.
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“City staff responded that it is on their list of repairs, but could not provide a timeline,” Ward said. “I will continue to advocate on his behalf.”
NBC 7 also reached out to the city who said they have “added it to the backlog of requests for concrete repairs.”
Baldwin’s area is an older community and road resurfacing has raised the road, diminishing the curb face, the city said. Any curb repair efforts would require extensive work to the surrounding area as well, the city added.
In the meantime, Baldwin has spent hundreds of dollars of his own money to try and mitigate the problem by installing a drainage system in hopes it would help, but it has not.
“I'm tired of fixing all this stuff,” Baldwin stressed.
As of Nov. 26, there is no timeline on when the issue will be fixed.
Baldwin said he’ll continue putting down sand bags as a makeshift curb.
