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Property owner fears land erosion will prevent home from selling

5 years 9 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, February 12 2019 Feb 12, 2019 February 12, 2019 5:24 PM February 12, 2019 in News
Source: WBRZ

BAKER - An entire block might be dealing with the same land erosion problem. The issue is along property lines backing up to a man-made ditch in Baker.

George Anderson maintains a family home along S. Magnolia Drive and says water and time have taken a toll, eroding at least six feet of the property. The fence along the back yard is falling over and his neighbor's fence is the same way.

Recently, Anderson fixed up the house on the nearly one-acre lot to put up for sale, but fears buyers will steer far away once they see the land erosion issue.

"It's a good house, good memories, but I just hate to see somebody else go through the problems that our family went through with all this," he said.

Anderson called the City-Parish with his concerns. Fearing he didn't have much more time to wait, he also contacted 2 On Your Side

Growing up, Anderson says he remembers when there were crews behind his house digging the ditch. Back then, he estimates the ditch was about eight feet wide. Now, it's doubled in size. Over the decades he and his family have added grates and logs to the fence line to prevent the erosion, but it hasn't worked. At one time he thought there was a plan for the City-Parish to add a concrete lining that would have prevented the erosion, but that hasn't happened.

"Big home, big property, but we got a problem here," he said.

The ditch wraps around his neighborhood and feeds into the Baker Canal. Part of Baker Canal is lined with concrete but that is eroding as well.

The City-Parish said it was looking into Anderson's concerns.

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