Petition to the Belmont City
Council by Belmont City Residents to repair existing erosion damage to lower
Marburger Avenue caused by an inadequate and malfunctioning City storm drain
system and address a new plan for safe storm water management for the residents
of the San Juan Hills Area.
Poorly managed storm water and continuous erosion directly
affect our property values, our personal safety, and impact our quality of
life. With more severe weather patterns
on the rise, we expect our undersized storm drain system to continue failing and
our property values to fall as a result.
Facts
By the City's own designation and
geological surveys, the San Juan Hills neighborhood is determined to contain areas prone to
landslides. With ongoing erosion, these
areas carry a high "risk of personal injury and death", "as well
as risk of property damage".(Belmont's own San Juan Hills Area Plan 1988)
Marburger Ave is enjoyed by many
residents that live in the San Juan Hills neighborhood. Used for scenic hiking, biking, and walking
with dogs, it serves an asset to the
community.
Erosion has impeded the ingress and egress of personal and
emergency vehicles on lower Marburger Ave prompting the need for police assistance for a stranded
vehicle in broad daylight during 2013.
The storm season of 2012/13 resulted in
the complete flooding of lower Marburger with water cresting over the top of
the City's culvert system causing erosion of pavement and road base. A large muddy debris field collecting at the
intersection of San Juan and Marburger is a hazard for drivers, dust hazard in
summer, and ongoing tax payer expense after each heavy rain.
The City must pass through lower
Marburger with heavy equipment and loaded dump trucks to maintain its own
infrastructure along and in the road.
This causes undue wear and tear compromising the road surface and lateral
sewer connections below.
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I request that the City Council take any and
all actions necessary to repair the damage caused to lower Marburger Avenue
pavement, accept Lower Marburger by formal resolution, and insure safety in all
public right-of-ways for the residents of the San Juan Hills Area.
I also request that the General Plan for the
San Juan Hills be updated with input and alignment with the actual residents who
live here in the San Juan Hills area as follows:
- preparedness for
severe weather patterns and improving our inadequate storm drain system.
- insure responsible
development to preserve the scenic nature of the area.
- limited City
regulation which allows our existing properties and structures to be upgraded and
reach their full value potential.
We have direct experience with the city's short sighted "Fixes". Our neighbors, down slope from us, complained to the city that we were funneling excess water into their yard. Even though the complainers already had a sump pump and are at the lowest point of the slope, the city made us install a large sump pump at the base of our property so that water now has to be pumped all the way uphill only to flow downhill into storm drain in front of the complainers! This "fix" costs us in excess energy use and is not sound environmentally. I also agree that the roads are a disgrace and I'm glad our community speaking out!