Pier pressure

Greg Risling

BALBOA ISLAND -- When Jim Hildreth heard the clamor of construction early

Thursday morning, he figured it was city workers fixing a sewer line.

What they were actually doing was demolishing the pier he had built in

March. And it wasn’t by accident.

A dispute between Hildreth and the city about his private platform has

been laboring for months. City officials said the 10-foot pier was built

illegally in a location where it could block access to the Grand Canal.

Hildreth claims he pays the same yearly fee his neighbors do. They have a

personal pier. He doesn’t -- anymore.

“If my structure is removed and I pay the same fee, the qualifications

should be the same,” Hildreth said. “I think it’s unfair.”

There are hundreds, even thousands, of disputes received by the city from

residents every year. They range from easements to irrigation problems.

Not all of them can be resolved to the residents’ liking.

Hildreth is one of those people. The private piers on the Grand Canal are

on public property. But residents are allowed a pier for a nominal fee of

$75 a year.

City officials said Hildreth’s situation is different than his

neighbors’.

His slot is located on one of four canal corners that only allows for a

shore mooring, according to city regulations. The mooring is essentially

a stake grounded to the beach and attached to a floating buoy.

But when Hildreth received his bill from the city, it listed his payment

for a “pier permit.”

Tony Melum, deputy chief for the city’s Fire and Marine Department, said

the wording on the bill was confusing, but they made it clear to Hildreth

he couldn’t build the platform.

“We told him that he couldn’t have a personal pier there,” said Melum.

“We did what we could to rectify the situation, but he never responded.”

City Council members decided at a July meeting that Hildreth didn’t have

the appropriate permit for the pier.

Hildreth was told the fines that had accumulated if he dismantled the

pier would be waived -- about $1,500 worth. Hildreth sought legal advice

and said attorneys told him to stand his ground.

City officials said they tried to contact him the last several months,

but were not successful.

“I think he was ignoring us,” Melum said. “We tried to work with him, but

we were forced to take action.”

The city sent a letter to Hildreth in mid-November warning him that

workers would demolish the platform if he didn’t do it himself. Hildreth

said he never received the letter. Now he is considering filing a civil

lawsuit against the city for taking away his pier.

“I would have taken it down if I got the letter,” said Hildreth, who said

he spent about $1,000 to build the pier. “I’m being selectively enforced.

I guess the saying ‘you can’t fight city hall and win’ is true.”