SAN ANTONIO — Robert Mendez was tired of seeing water collect in the ditch right behind his back fence. The easement behind the fence had only gotten deeper over the last few years and would be hard for Mendez to fill himself, even he was even allowed to do it per city code.
But the City of San Antonio didn't actually know what the property was, until KENS 5 got involved.
"When it rains hard it fills up with water all the way down here. The water remains for four or five days," Mendez said. "It just stays stagnate. You can see all the flies. All the Gnats, mosquitoes. It draws rodents at times."
Mendez said his grandchildren like to play in the black yard but he didn't want them near the mosquitoes. He called 311 multiple times to try to get the city to fill it in but said he just got the run around.
"They tried to direct me to different departments. They guided me to [departments of] development, alleys, three of four different departments and they all just said it wasn't their problem," Mendez said. "One of the city workers told me it was actually Union Pacific's problem."
There is a railroad track behind Mendez's home, as well as a dirt road to service the railroad, so he didn't know who the property belonged to either. Finally he called KENS 5.
KENS reached out to both San Antonio Public works, and the County Tax Assessor's office, in order to find out who is really responsible for the property. Both offices told KENS 5 this was a city easement, but they didn't actually know what kind.
In fact, KENS 5 called and emailed public works multiple times over the course of a month and public works actually sent multiple city divisions to the property to try and figure out what the easement was and what could be done with it. One engineer in training told KENS 5 the property could possibly be a utility easement, a drainage easement, or even a private easement connected to another property.
Eventually, the city determined the easement was a "non-service ally" easement and therefore it was Mr. Mendez's job to "maintain" the property.
Public works stated in an email, "Maintenance of these types of easements are the responsibility of the adjacent property owner, per City Code Section 35-507. We spoke with the resident and informed him that he is allowed to fill the spot with dirt, but that he should consult a professional to make sure this work will not have an adverse impact on neighboring properties. The Public Works Department will continue to look at short-term and long-term options for addressing this issue."
Mendez was less than thrilled with the answer as it would be difficult for him to fill on his own.
"Everywhere I go I see dump trucks with dirt that they are pulling out of the ground, because they are re-doing the streets and the sidewalks, and I'm like, 'why can't I have some of that dirt?,'" Mendez said. "It's your easement but it's not your problem."
Still, Mendez now has a definitive answer. If any contractor is looking to get rid of some dirt, there's a guy at Neer Ave. and Weizmann St. who would like to talk to you.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.