An Atascadero couple is suing the City of Atascadero after damage caused by storms earlier this year left the family without a home for the past six months.
The Spiller’s home sits alongside Graves Creek which feeds into the Salinas River.
For Katie and Aaron Spiller, looking over the damage is heartbreaking.
“It's devastation and extreme sadness and devastation. It's just unbelief," Katie said.
Aaron Spiller says the erosion of his property began on March 10. However, the cause of the damage came much earlier.
Aaron says a massive oak tree fell upstream from their home about a week after the January storms.
That same tree washed down the creek during the March storms.
“On March 10th, we woke up and I came out to the living room, saw part of our fence missing, went out and looked at that oak tree. [It] had come down, the creek stopped there, was clogged with debris, and created a dam. The dam diverted the water into our yard and it just started eroding our yard away," Aaron explained.
Their home was red-tagged leaving Spiller, his wife, and two kids living in a hotel room and temporary housing for the past six months.
“There's been a lot of tears. A lot of ...'I just want to go home. I just want to go home. Why can't we go home?'" Katie added.
The Spillers say they reached out to the city several times and even sent images of the damage.
“We contacted them by telephone. We showed up at city hall. I sent them a video of the destruction that was ongoing, and that was on March 10th. No one that I'm aware of came out until March 17th. They paid a tree crew to come out and cut up the tree on the 18th and 19th… but, you know, unfortunately, by that time the damage was done," Aaron said.
The only assistance received was from FEMA. Aaron says their home insurance claim was denied several times.
“I've had construction bids exceeding $800,000," Aaron said.
He says the city has been unresponsive with no other financial help or resources offered.
Their lawsuit against the city claims Graves Creek is owned by the City of Atascadero and that the city failed to properly maintain the creek, including the removal of storm debris, resulting in damage to the property.
“If the creeks were cleaner, you know, they knew that there were massive amounts of debris in the creeks. Had they responded when we called them and came out and truly assessed it? … We'd still be in our house," Aaron said.
It’s now the Spillers' hope that through legal action, the city will take responsibility.
“I would hope at some point we're able to get the resources to put our home back together and to get back in our home. I would hope that the city changes how they treat the residents, and they take these requests and notifications seriously when they have them," Aaron said.
They are hopeful the 13 years of memories they have in their home can be saved.
“We've brought both our kids home from the hospital here and this is our home and their home," Katie said.
KSBY reached out to the city of Atascadero twice for a comment.
A city spokesperson said via email, “The city cannot comment on anything related to the outstanding claim or the Spiller property."
However, on Sept.28, a City spokesperson stated that even though they cannot comment on active litigation, the City did during storms earlier this year use various forms of communication to inform homeowners of needed information and resources available, “from sand and sand bag locations; connecting residents with the proper departments/organizations for various storm related incidents (street flooding, downed limbs or trees in the streets, power shut-offs, excess trash disposal, etc.); and directing them to sites like ReadySLo.org for FEMA and SBA Loan information," the spokesperson told KSBY. "The City is gearing up for another wet rainy season and information will be rolling out to residents in the very near future.”
The homeowners say if action isn’t taken soon, they are worried more water and heavier storms could further impact their home.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount to cover damage to the property as well as attorney fees among other things.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family and can be found on this link.
