Colorado Springs homeowner accuses new development of flooding his property

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Whenever it rains, Calin Hins’ property on Broadway Street in west Colorado Springs turns into a mud pit, and he blames the new residential property next door.

Hins moved into the house in 2015. He said for five years they never had a problem with their property flooding. But that all changed in 2020 when the land just to the west started to be developed.

An eight-foot retaining guards the west side of Hins’ property. But video of any storm, shows water racing down the next-door property’s slope, over the retaining wall, and into Hins’ yard.

He said the rainy spring, along with Colorado Springs Utilities installing a new gas line for the property, only made the situation worse. The water has now seeped into his crawl space and foundation.

“I'm worried that not only could this damage my home and the city is not going to do anything about it, but it's also lowering my property value,” Hins said. “In the event that I do want to sell my home, I have to disclose these things.”

Hins’ called the City of Colorado Springs to see if they could require some runoff mitigation. However, they said it would have to be handled in civil court. Hins can’t afford an attorney so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“We immediately dropped everything we were doing and started digging in mud,” he said.

Sandbags line the walls of his house and his wife dug trenches throughout their mud-filled yard to divert water away from the foundation.

Hins blames the property to the west for the flooding. He said the original developer cut corners.

According to a soil report from 2018 for the original owner Joe Koscove, the investigation recommends multiple retaining walls to limit the steep slope.

“Slopes within the construction areas, outside of the proposed building areas, generally along the east one-third of each lot are steep and potentially unstable,” the report said.

According to the report, the retaining walls were actually part of the plan, but they were never built.

“It's something that became kind of frightening when you see that these things aren't being done in the development process and there's no one who's coming in that's actually regulating it and making sure that these are being done,” Hins said.

Ron DiGiacomo then bought the property in May 2021 and built a house on the lot. He declined an interview but blames the previous owner and developer for not dealing with the steep slope.

13 Investigates reached out to the previous developer, but we never heard back.

DiGiacomo said he changed the design from the previous owner. Instead of a multi-building complex, he only has one building on the lot. He sent 13 Investigates the new plans for his design. Those plans don’t mention a retaining wall or the slope in the backyard. According to Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, his property still needs a final engineering inspection though.

DiGiacomo said he has spent nearly $100,000 in erosion mitigation, like placing erosion control blankets all along the slope. He also agreed to help pay for the Hins’ landscaping to get rid of the mud.

But Hins is concerned the flooding will only continue and is worried the city doesn’t regulate building reports.

“It's disheartening to see that the institutions that are put into place to regulate building, to regulate codes, to regulate stormwater, that they're not actually on your side as a homeowner.”

13 Investigates reached out to the city about this project and regulating building reports, but we never heard back.

“I'd like to see our yard fixed,” Hins said. “We would like to enjoy our summer as well as anyone else.”

Do you have a tip you want 13 investigates to look into? Email us at 13investigates@krdo.com