A recurring problem of severe flooding in the back parking lot of Quail Run Apartments at 411 14th St. may be headed toward a solution.
   The storm that brought much-needed rain to the area on Dec. 7 brought real headaches to some Quail Run tenants when water rose as high as the seats of several cars that were parked in the back lot.
   The problem is caused by a drainage channel that runs across the property and is supposed to dump water into the street west of the property, said Maria Navarro, who supervises the complex for Kleege Enterprises in Del Mar. However, the channel is not maintained in a vacant lot immediately west of the apartments, causing rainwater to back up into the parking lot, she explained.
   “We’ve made numerous complaints to the county about this problem and they say they are going to check on it but nothing ever happens,” Navarro said.
However, as the Sentinel was going to press, Navarro was told to expect a call on Dec. 15 from Larry Zickus, supervisor of the Ramona Road Station for the San Diego County Department of Public Works. So Navarro is hopeful that some action may be forthcoming.
   “The owner of the apartments has even contacted the owner of the vacant lot and offered to clean it up for him, but we never get any response,” Navarro said. “We can’t just go on to someone else’s property without their permission and start bulldozing, especially in an area with environmental controls.”
   Michael Drake, public affairs officer for the County Department of Public Works, expressed the same reservation about working on private property.
   “Even when it’s raining, our crews are out there cleaning storm drains, culverts and channels, but, bottom line, if it’s private property, there is nothing the county can do about that,” Drake said.
   Drake said he planned to visit the site on Dec. 15.
But Navarro said that her boss believes that the channel may be county property because of “easements that have been granted down the line.”
While the powers-that-be try to come to a solution, some of the tenants know that they will face major problems again if the rains continue.
   One said her car was not ruined on Dec. 7, because “I parked on the street that night when I couldn’t get through the water. But I could not get to my apartment without either walking, with my kids, in the flooded lot or scaling along the wall between the building and shrubs. It’s ridiculous!”