LONGWOOD, Fla. – After months of intense flooding, the homeowner behind a concrete-filled drainpipe in Longwood’s Shadow Bay community has applied for a permit to remove the blockage, according to Seminole County.
On Monday, a county spokesperson told News 6 that the homeowner had submitted the application, and the county is awaiting signed plans from the engineer.
Once those plans are acquired, the county is expected to issue the permit on Tuesday, the spokesperson said.
The issue stems all the way back to March, when the homeowner sent letters out to neighbors and warned them of her plans to close off a drainpipe on her property.
[TIMELINE: Longwood woman fills drainpipe with concrete, sparks neighborhood flooding]
HOA board member Robin Rodriguez explained that the homeowner accused the HOA of installing a drainpipe on her property without permission, though Rodriguez added that the drainpipe appears to have been there since before the homeowner ever moved in.
That letter to neighbors reads as follows:
“Please be advise that I reside at (Shadowbay address). I am downgrade from all of you in your residential community. At some point in time in the past, a drain pipe was installed in my property, without my permission. It drains the road in front of me and also a number of upgraded houses to whom I am sending a copy of this letter.
I advise you of this, because once I close that pipe off, you will have a drain problem that will back up on the road, and on your property, and potentially on my property, because the drain, as I said, goes through my property without my permission, or without any authority.
Your Home Owners Association, and people in control, knew about this and have failed to do anything about it to right the situation, nor has there even been a legitimate offer to compensate me for the use of my property for a passage of your water to the waters behind my property.
If, in fact, you do nothing about this, and my property is flooded at any point in time and there is damage, regardless of how insignificant, each of you are responsible for that damage.
I give you this warning in advance, and advise that this should resolve this by the end of March or beginning of April. I would hope that you would take care of alleviating this problem so that none of us have any problems when the rainy season is in full force.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.”
Homeowner's letter to neighbors
Over a month later, the homeowner reportedly followed through on her threat and poured concrete into the drainpipe on her property, causing it to clog.
However, the easement is on the woman’s property, meaning that the county and local HOA didn’t have the authority to prevent her from doing so or remove the cement blockage.
And without a drainpipe to help remove rainwater, the community began to suffer heavy flooding in the months to follow.
[WATCH NEWS 6′S PREVIOUS COVERAGE BY CLICKING IN THE MEDIA PLAYER BELOW]
After months of complaints from neighbors, a special magistrate in September eventually gave the Longwood homeowner an ultimatum: fix the damages by Oct. 1 or face a daily $250 fine.
The magistrate also noted the vast flooding in the neighborhood that families did not experience before the pipe was plugged and said the rain was only going to get worse.
As of Monday, the homeowner was using a water pump to drain excess water from the drain closest to her property, which has allowed water to pass through surrounding drains. At the time, the roads in the neighborhood were no longer filled with lingering flood water.
While the community is happy about this, neighbors still want a full fix.
The homeowner said that once her permit is approved, she will begin working on it, but Rodriguez told News 6 she’ll believe it once construction actually begins.
“It’s been a long six months for everyone in our community...” Rodriguez said. “We’re pretty skeptical, but the temporary pump has helped alleviate some of the stress and anxiety her actions caused, so for that, we’re grateful.”
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