Menlo Park named in creek flooding lawsuit

By JENNIFER KAVANAUGH

A group of residents whose homes suffered damage in the February 1998 floods have filed suit against the cities of Menlo Park and Palo Alto, claiming that two bridges caused the San Francisquito Creek to flood their homes and property.

John Hanna, an attorney and resident of Palo Alto's Crescent Park neighborhood, has spearheaded the complaint and encouraged other families to join the lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court. According to the suit, two bridges connecting the cities -- at Middlefield Road and at Pope and Chaucer streets -- caused the heavy rains to flow over the creek's banks and into residential areas, including Crescent Park.

The residents are asking the two cities to remove the bridges and replace them with bridges that have wider spans; clear any blockages along the creek bed and shore up the eroded areas; and compensate them for damages suffered during the floods.

So far, two families are named in the suit, but four families from Menlo Park, and a dozen more from Palo Alto, are expected to join the suit, according to Joyce Mendlin, Mr. Hanna's attorney.

Menlo Park officials said they haven't had time to review the lawsuit and comment on the residents' claims. However, city officials have said there's no evidence that the bridges caused the flooding, or that replacing the bridges would make future flooding less likely.

Mr. Hanna, who estimated his damages to be between $20,000 and $30,000, said Palo Alto officials did nothing about the bridges, despite several complaints he made before the flooding. While Menlo Park has been more responsive about the creek, Mr. Hanna said, jurisdictional issues -- questions about which city could make decisions about the bridges -- forced him to name Menlo Park as a defendant.

"I feel Menlo Park has been a good deal less culpable in this," Mr. Hanna said. "But we have to include Menlo Park if we want something done about this and have all the parties in the courtroom."

Recently, government agencies on both sides of the creek formed a joint powers authority to make decisions about flood control and environmental protection along the creek. According to Menlo Park City Manager Jan Dolan, this lawsuit or the threat of others won't derail the mission of the joint powers authority, which meets for the first time September 23. "They already have on their radar screen to look at long-term flood protection," she said.

Mr. Hanna said he isn't confident that the authority will be able to address his concerns or that of his neighbors.

"I see very little hope that this will get done with any diligence," he said. "It's taken them years to get to the point where they have a joint authority in the first place."