Couple files suit over home's destruction

SANDPOINT — A Washington state couple is suing Bonner County for a landslide which destroyed their home overlooking Lake Pend Oreille.

Lee and Myola Stewart’s vacation home on Talache Beach Road was wrecked in March 2017 when the hillside behind their home broke loose. The landslide knocked the home off its foundation and turned it on its side. The Spokane Valley couple was not in the home when it was damaged.

The couple filed a claim for damages against Bonner County in 2017 seeking $367,265 in damages, which was the assessed value of the home. The claim was rejected, which permitted the Stewarts to file suit in 1st District Court.

The couple’s counsel, Coeur d’Alene attorney Art Bistline, contends in the suit that water began accumulating at a point on Talache Road near the Stewart home in late winter or early spring. Permanent residents advised the county of the issue and the county took steps to alleviate the accumulation, Bistline said in the suit.

“Defendant’s actions that were taken to alleviate the accumulation of water caused the water to flow on and around Talache Road in a pattern that did not exist prior to defendant’s attempts to alleviate the accumulation of water on its road,” Bistline said in the suit, which was filed on June 19.

Bistline argues the county’s intervention caused water to drain directly onto a hillside behind their home, which was exacerbated by stormwater runoff.

Bonner County was being deluged with soaking rains at the time of the slide and a flood warning was in effect, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane.

The couple is seeking a jury trial and damages which exceed $10,000, the statutory threshold for a district court action.

Bonner County officials do not comment on pending litigation.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.