Sewer problem keeps Castro building shuttered Sewer problem keeps Castro building shuttered (September 23, 2005)

Building owner may sue city to get connection restored

By Jon Wiener

A dispute over a ruptured sewer line that has closed down one Castro Street business and threatened another has now dragged into its seventh month of failed efforts to solve it. If it goes on much longer, says one property owner, it will be in front of a judge.

The connection from Food Street restaurant at 292 Castro St. to the city's sewer main runs underneath the Seascapes building at the corner of Castro and Dana Streets. When the line collapsed in March, it shut down the restaurant and began undermining the back wall of the neighboring building.

In the months that followed, Food Street has repeatedly begged the city to let it connect a new sewer line, while the city threatened to kick out Seascapes and an upstairs apartment dweller and condemn their building. Yet no work has been done to fix the sewer line or the wall.

"This has drug on quite frankly way too long," said city building inspector Ron Geary. "There are definitely some serious problems for public safety with that building if we had a big earthquake."

Tuesday, the city was finalizing a letter to Omar Lee, who owns the Seascapes building and has his name plastered on the second floor. The letter lays out a series of deadlines for Lee to meet or else face the eviction of his tenants and penalties of $500 a day. Geary said the work needs to be done by April.

While Food Street remains closed, Seascapes continues to operate under severe restrictions, cutting its hours of operation and not being able to use the back of the store.

Nancy Gee, who owns the Food Street building, said she blames the city for her tenant's continued problems. Geary will not issue a permit for any kind of temporary connection, and wants Lee to complete work on his building first. But Gee said she has received no legal justification for the city's refusal to allow a new sewer connection to be put in.

"We want to do this right and we want to do this legally," she said, "but we're sort of stuck right now."

Gee said she is planning to file suit against both the city and Lee in another month if she can't get the connection put in.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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