Sewage leak shuts downtown buildings Sewage leak shuts downtown buildings (March 18, 2005)

Food Street closed, Seascapes to be condemned

By Jon Wiener

Raw sewage underneath a building at the northwest corner of Castro and Dana Streets has already shut down one downtown business and is threatening to do the same to another.

Building inspector Ron Geary said last week the city is taking steps to condemn the building at 298 Castro St., home to the tropical-fish store Seascapes and a pair of upstairs apartments, a process which could ultimately lead to its demolition.

The problem, officials said, is a leaky sewer line that has been undermining the building's back wall.

The sewer line in question actually belongs to Food Street, located next door at 292 Castro St., but runs underneath the building on the corner. The county health department closed down the restaurant last Tuesday because the line is broken.

But because of unsafe conditions at 298 Castro, the city has "red-tagged" the building and won't let plumbers fix the problem.

"Unfortunately, all this accumulation of grease and human waste under the building now has created a hazardous situation," said Geary.

While Food Street will remain closed for the foreseeable future, Seascapes has until the end of March to close or find another location. The owners, Chloe Mezilis and Patrick Andorfer, have feuded with the city over its downtown sign ordinance and the addition of chloramines to the water supply.

A resident of a second-floor apartment also must move out.

Nancy Gee, who owns the Food Street building along with her father, Henry, said it is too early to assign blame for the situation. She suggested that the Seascapes building may have broken the sewer line rather than vice versa but stressed that the issue will be settled by insurance companies.

"Our goal is to try and do what we can to let the restaurant be able to operate," said Gee.

At this point, that may be very little, given the city's concern about letting plumbers work underneath a building it's about to condemn. Gee may have to wait for the owner of the other building, Omar Lee, whose name graces its second floor, to determine his plans.

"This is going to be a very complex situation quite frankly," said Geary. "I think we'll see lots of attorneys at some point in time."
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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