Huntington Beach homeowners fight OC San over pool demolitions

Residents along Rhone Lane are challenging Orange County Sanitation District's drive to demolish swimming pools and backyard structures built on a decades-old sewer easement, accusing the utility of seizing private property without compensation.

The dispute pits OC San's obligation to maintain aging pipeline infrastructure against homeowners' property rights — a conflict heading to a May 1 court hearing that could force residents who reject the district's settlement offer to bear demolition costs themselves.

OC San says it needs 30 feet of access into affected backyards to perform routine and preventive maintenance on the sewer pipeline running beneath the properties, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The district has offered settlements covering demolition costs to some residents, and 13 homeowners have signed those agreements.

Tony Shahidi, a homeowner facing a potential loss of more than $350,000 in equity if his backyard is demolished, said the district is overstepping its legal authority. "Easement means access, but OC Sanitation sees this as no, they want possession. And that's what they've done. Effectively, they are taking possession of these people's lands without giving them any kind of monetary consideration," Shahidi said, according to ABC7.

Frank Clarke, whose pool was built in 1973, said the city's permit approval gave him confidence the work was legitimate. "We laid out something and took it to the city, got it permitted, and as far as we were concerned, that was a done deal," Clarke told ABC7. He called the enforcement effort "outrageous." Shahidi said the city has since walked away from any responsibility: "The city simply backed out and said, 'No, it's not our responsibility, too bad.'"

The City of Huntington Beach has distanced itself from the dispute. City spokesperson Julie Toledo told ABC7 that since the 1990s, pool permit applicants have been required to sign an acknowledgement that no private easements exist in the pool area. "Although it's always been the case that property owners are responsible for the accuracy of their plans, the City adopted this practice in the 90s," Toledo said.

OC San Director of Communications Jennifer Cabral acknowledged the emotional toll but defended the enforcement timeline. "We do understand that it's emotional. There's an impact. It's jarring. There is an easement on the property in which they purchased. And there are encroachments, and they've continued to get worse over time. If we don't start correcting it today, when's the right time? When the pipeline breaks and we have ten million gallons of raw sewage impacting thousands of people?" Cabral told ABC7.

A court hearing is scheduled for May 1, where a judge could determine whether homeowners who rejected OC San's settlement offers must cover demolition costs on their own.