Kelly

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs, who are brothers, own and operate Stormaster, a self-storage facility located in Pittsburg, California. Plaintiff Byron Kelly, a licensed contractor, was involved in the development of the property in the 1990’s though he was not the builder. The Stormaster property consists of 415 storage units housed in eight buildings, designated “A” through “H,” as well as a manager’s office and residence. The storage units are built on cement slabs, and portions of them are built on fill.

1 District distributes water from the Contra Costa Canal through a series of 16 lateral pipes. A portion of a 15-inch cement water main known as Lateral 14 (which was originally constructed by the federal Department of the Interior but is now operated and maintained by District) runs under the Stormaster property. In September of 2004, Peter Mom, the resident property manager of Stormaster, noticed water ponding in a flower garden on the property. Mom contacted the City of Pittsburg and, after learning its water department did not have pipes in the area, contacted District in December 2004 to report a possible leak. Michael Bartzi, who worked in District’s…