A dispute over sidewalk damage puts Seaside and some of its residents at odds.

The city of Seaside and residents of Seaside Highlands are at an impasse about who is responsible for repairing city-owned sidewalks in the neighborhood that are being damaged by the roots of sycamore trees.

The cost of that work, in the city’s estimation, approaches $1 million. It’s a significant sum when divided among the development’s 387 homes – about $2,500 per homeowner.

The development was built in the early 2000s amid much controversy – former congressman Sam Farr even wrote a bill that allowed the Army to convey the 110 acres of land directly to the city of Seaside, bypassing local bureaucracy, for the price of $5.2 million. The city then turned around and sold it all to Los Angeles-based developer KB/Bakewell for $6.8 million, a bargain by any measure. (KB Bakewell is also the developer behind Seaside’s nascent Campus Town project.)

According to the city, the “covenants, conditions and restrictions” related to the project – which delineate the responsibilities of property owners in Seaside Highlands and were codified by the County Assessor’s Office in 2003 – dictate that the neighborhood’s homeowners association is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of trees along public sidewalks and medians.

In a letter City Attorney Sheri Damon sent to the HOA in October 2020, she wrote that there are nine “uplifts” in the sidewalks in Seaside Highlands exceeding two inches, and that the city’s maintenance responsibilities does not include “damage caused by others.”

In a letter she sent to the HOA on Aug. 19 of this year, it seems the dispute is headed toward litigation. Damon wrote that an agreement with the HOA on how to handle the problem has not yet been reached (despite efforts at mediation), while also noting “the ongoing failure” to maintain trees. She also wrote that the HOA is required to respond to the city within 30 days with a plan to repair the uplifts and, where necessary, to replace any trees removed.

Dave Evans, president of the Seaside Highlands HOA board, believes the city is firmly in the wrong on this question – he does not believe the homeowners are responsible for maintaining the sidewalks, and the trees are “city-owned.”

He also feels like the HOA and the city were “making progress” in the mediation, but it culminated in the August letter from Damon. Evans characterizes the city’s efforts as legal “hocus pocus.”