Man suing over damaged creek bed

CHARLESTON – A man is suing a couple in Winifrede, claiming they widened a driveway and damaged a creek bed used to access the man's property and an old cemetery.

Norman Connard filed a lawsuit May 28 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Edward L. and Carol J. Nelson.

Connard says he bought a piece of property near the defendants' property in 1961. The lawsuit says the defendants bought their property in 1997.

Over the years, Connard says the only ingress and egress to his property and a cemetery more than 100 years old was a creek bed.

After the defendants bought their property, they began a project to widen their driveway, the lawsuit says.

The work put stress on the banks of the creek and caused debris to fall into the creek bed, Connard claims.

In late 2008, the defendants tried to stabilize the bank with landscape timbers supported by steel rods, the lawsuit says.

This has restricted the width of the creek bed, Connard claims. He says he can only drive certain types of vehicles in and out of the property.

Connard says emergency crews can't access the property, which is no good because his infirm mother-in-law and brother-in-law live in the property.

The plaintiff wants a judge to stop the defendants from furthering disruption of the creek bed. He's also seeking an award to pay for work to bring the creek bed back to its original width.

Gregory E. Elliott is representing the plaintiff. The case is before Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 09-C-996