Tensions over a levee that’s taking shape in backyards along Juneau’s Mendenhall River have come to a head, with one homeowner filing a lawsuit against the city seeking to exempt his property or be paid for it.
Win or lose — city officials say the levee will go up.
Stephen Bower owns a home beside the river and alleges that officials did not go through the right process for approving the levee intended to keep floodwaters out of Mendenhall Valley homes.
The court filing asserts that the barriers will not benefit Bower’s property, as his home was not damaged during the 2023 or 2024 glacial outburst floods.
“He doesn’t want to pay for this barrier,” said Scott Perkins, Bower’s attorney. “He doesn’t want this barrier on his property — and, in the alternative, if the barrier has to be on the property, he deserves to be compensated for the amount of land that he has lost.”
If he prevails, it would upend the city’s plan to pay for the levee.
The lawsuit takes issue with an ordinance the Juneau Assembly passed creating a Local Improvement District, or LID. The ordinance spread 40% of the barrier construction cost among 466 landowners, who would pay about $6,300 each for flood protection over the next decade. Landowners had the opportunity to vote down the LID in February, but only a quarter formally objected.
Both the U.S. Constitution and the Alaska Constitution forbid the government from taking private land for public use without paying them for it. “Taking” is the key word here.
Emily Wright, the city’s attorney, said the city isn’t taking the land, since Bower will still own the part of his property with the levee — which is meant to be temporary. But she said if a judge rules that the land is being taken, the city would have to pay all of the landowners hosting the barriers.
“Then we probably have to pursue an eminent domain action, which requires just compensation, because if we’re not on people’s property because of the LID, we have to have permission to be on their property somehow,” Wright said.
If a judge strikes down the ordinance that created the LID, the city also wouldn’t be able to charge any landowners for the project and the Assembly would have to decide whether and how to cover the estimated $3,132,000 that was to be divided among landowners. City Manager Katie Koester said that the full cost of the project won’t be known until it’s completed.
“We’re still actively pursuing grants, working with Tlingit and Haida on CDBG community development block grant funding,” Koester said. “We will continue to aggressively pursue those funding sources.”
The court filing also alleges that the city didn’t get the right permits through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to do the project, which would have required an environmental assessment. Nate Rumsey, a city engineer, said the city didn’t need that permit because the last flood prompted anemergency declaration. Instead, the city got what’s called a nationwide permit through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Rumsey said he anticipated a lawsuit like this, and if Bower wins, the levee would still be built — with some alterations.
“We have alternatives, from an engineering perspective, available that could allow us to still provide protection to the rest of the community,” Rumsey said.
The city has to file an answer to the complaint by the end of the month. Perkins said a handful of other landowners may soon join the lawsuit. A court date has not yet been set.
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