ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Thursday morning, Juan Jimenez watched as crews filled back in his driveway, which was left in disrepair after heavy rain on Monday washed it away.
“It was like a river,” said Jimenez.
When Jimenez bought his Roanoke County home off of Thurman Drive last year, he had no idea the kind of damage storm water runoff would do every time it rains. Debris and trash spill onto his property regularly.
Jimenez said that the runoff comes from the Glenvar schools’ parking lot just up the hill and believes school renovations and additions are to blame. He said over time, the problem is getting worse.
“Something has to be wrong with up there at the school because you don’t have this kind of runoff if you have a retention pond. They don’t have any retention pond,” said Jimenez.
Jimenez said he met with school officials last summer, who took a look at his property. He finally heard back from them this year… saying there weren’t any code violations so they wouldn’t take action.Then last week, the county told him it couldn’t do anything either.
”It’s frustrating that they don’t think that they need to do anything when anybody can see there’s a problem,” said Jimenez.
He wants the county build a retention pond on his property, but he doesn’t want to do so without county approval and said he shouldn’t have to pay for it.
10 News reached out to Roanoke County and a spokesperson said that area is a natural water runoff course and has been for hundreds of years. In addition, since there’s no county drainage system on the property, it’s not a county issue. 10 News also reached out to Roanoke County Public Schools, who could not be reached for comment.
Between the materials and labor, the repairs set Jimenez back about $1,500. Now, he worries if something doesn’t change, his driveway will eventually erode and wash away for good.
“I don’t know what the answer is but I know that there’s a big problem here,” said Jimenez.