Dear Mayor
and Council Members,
The City of
Santa Barbara conducted a sewer lateral inspection on our residential rental
property located on Paseo del Descanso. On January 11, 2019, we received notice
we had a “broken or defective sewer lateral”. We were informed that we were to
pay for and provide a televised inspection of the line from the house to the
main sewer line within the next month or so. We called our plumber and informed
him, and he complied with all the demands by the city. Because we had replaced
the sewer line from the house to the property line several years ago, we were
only required to repair the portion under the city street to the main line. The
total cost of this project was over $7,500 including the city’s permit fees.
Just one
month later, on February 15, we received another letter from the Public Works
Department informing us that we were required to send video and make necessary
repairs to our lateral hook up to our own residence on Paseo del Refugio, as
well as the sewer line leading from our residence. Apparently while our
neighbor across the street was going through this process, the city discovered
that our line had “roots intruding into the lateral or City main”. Once again,
we were given a specific date to provide the video and make necessary repairs,
or face stiff fines. The work was conducted in accordance with the city’s
demands to the tune of about $10,000 including the city’s permit fees.