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Resident left with few options as water issues are on private property
By ROBERT CONNELLY
CANFIELD
During heavy rain storms, Dave Carelli has to stand by his backyard pond with a net to keep his fish in their pond. That’s because an overflow of water turns his backyard into a lake — sometimes as deep as 4 feet — Carelli has told township officials.
After years of questions, Carelli is closer to an answer. He said he has talked with the Canfield trustees and Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti over the years about the problem.
Carelli has had a water buildup from storms in his yard, 3712 Tippecanoe Place, for a number of years. He attributes it to newer homes being built on higher properties. He has lived at the home for eight years and has dealt with flooding in his basement and now in his first-floor sun room.
Township officials — Trustee Brian Governor, zoning inspector Dave Morrison, and public works employee Bob Burkett – along with Tim Burkert, an engineer with the Mahoning County Engineer’s Office, met with Carelli this week in his damp backyard.
“My basement’s starting to collapse,” Carelli told them. “It’s going to get worse.”
Burkert had the plans from when Tippecanoe Place was installed in 1975, and Sperone Court in 1984. Both streets were designed with a slant for run-off from spouts to flow toward the streets. However, officials said that Carelli’s backyard was the low point for the two blocks.
“This is unfortunately ground zero,” Governor told Carelli.
Carelli said his neighbors have added dirt to their backyards to elevate their property to avoid the water issues. Both Burkert and Carelli noted the cluster of Pinhook trees, known for being in water areas, both said.
“This whole area was a low-riding area,” Burkert said. “When I see Pinhooks like that, this has been a wet-prone place.”
Burkert said he was in Carelli’s backyard in 2009, when the property across the backyard from Carelli was being excavated. Burkert advised them not to raise the property, but he could only advise.
“Anything that you do that has an adverse effect on someone else’s property, you can be civilly liable,” Burkert said of the law. He acknowledged that he is not a lawyer and the burden of proof would be on Carelli if he pursued the matter civilly against his neighbors for raising their backyards.
Governor told Carelli, “Unfortunately, this is private property. We don’t have any authority to come on the property. We just don’t.”
“What happens when this basement wall collapses?” Carelli questioned. “Who’s actually liable for that?”
Carelli’s neighbor on Tippecanoe Place installed a private drain to help with his backyard. As the meeting ended, Carelli talked about his options, such as installing his own system to help with drainage and pursuing the matter against his neighbors as a civil one. “You’re limited to where you could tie [a drainage system] into,” Burkert said.
But Carelli said he is looking to continue conversations about a neighbor who recently installed a pool with a raised elevation.