Can You Build On a Drainage Easement? (lawyer, zoning)

[halfbreedftbl]

After Constucting a 3 and half car garage and an olympic size swimming pool on his property my neighbor began complaining about how his backyard is always so flooded...he then built a garage sized shed behind his garage directly over his drainage easment {I'm assuming that all residents have easements. The sewer is at the far corner of my property so water is suppose to flow through my yard} he then hooked up hoses to the gutters coming off his garage and shed and placed the end at..you guessed it..at the property line entering my yard.
Now my yard is constantly flooded...Can he do this?...The case being that natural water flow is not the case here but the constant flow of water coming out of gutters...Heavy rains mean that I have a contant heavy flow of water entering my yard for the duration of the storm from his gutter tubes....Any help would be appreciated!

[knitgirl]

Have you contacted your town's building or code enforcement department?

[chet everett]

Basic problem is NOT the drainage easement, but the shameful way this 'neighbor' is directly runoff onto your property. I have seen instance of such blatant disregard for adjoining property and I have even seen judges be bamboozled by such boors hiring high powered attorneys to argue that such obvious misdirection of runoff is withing the rights of the offender. HA! Most wiser towns / counties have ordinances that PROHIBIT such reckless treatment of runoff -- it just makes no sense to take this jokers runoff and suffer!

The OP needs to a) research the local / county ordinances on their own and NOT let this un-neighborly fool get any advantage with authorities b) hire an experienced lawyer that will be able to argue strenuously to get this resolved ASAP. OP should also be prepared to pay experts in management of runoff (all good land use lawyers have connections to such experts) so that if this goes to a judge there is no doubt that the runoff is the neighbor's responsibility.

I really feel bad for the OP and I know that in northern climates such a problem is especially bad this time of year as it will result in having a frozen lake in one's yard. Not good even in warm areas, as grass won't grow in a swampy area and then you have muddy / smelly mess to deal with. Yuck!

[chet everett]

Is this in DuPage Co by any chance? http://www.dupageco.org/emplibrary/S...ted%202006.pdf

[sgresident]

I can tell you that you need to head to your municipality ASAP. If you are in an unincorporated area, head to the county offices. There are definite zoning rules regarding setbacks, lot coverages and easements. Most municipalities do NOT allow you to put any permanent structures in a drainage easement. also, your neighbor cannot change something and cause his water to flow on to your property. Get on the phone or go to the offices in person.