Sinkhole A Growing Problem In Auburn Parking Lot
AUBURN (CBS13) -- This problem is getting deeper by the day -- a giant sinkhole that's getting worse and its starting to dampen business at an Auburn smog shop.
"You might as well build a swimming pool back here. We just need a fishing pole to start fishing," one of Steve Rowett's employees at Sierra Smog and Auto Repair jokes.
They may joke about it now, but the business owner knows he has a sinking situation on his hands.
"We left work one night and came back the next morning and our cars bottomed out in the parking lot," Rowett says.
Two years ago the whole was about 2 feet wide, but now they have to maneuver around it to avoid scraping sedans on cement.
"I just don't want to fix it if it's going to keep sinking," Rowett says.
The Grocery Outlet next door filled a similar hole up with asphalt. But Rowett says the Auburn Ravine runs under his lot so he wants a fix from the underground up.
The hole has developed where the Auburn Ravine starts to go underground. A pipe was inserted underground so water can run right through it. Then they laid down concrete and built a shopping center and a parking lot right over that pipe.
The dipping follows the route of the river. And it's a pretty long stretch underground. The ravine extends underneath Elm Avenue and opens up almost at Interstate 80.
"It seems like it would've been a really big deal to put that pipe in and cover it all up," Rowett says.
But Steve says he can't find the records to show who owns the ravine. "I really don't know who owns it," he says.
So what about the city of Auburn? CBS13 put calls in to the Public Works Department but had yet to hear back.
"The city came and looked at the pipe and they said the top of the pipe wasn't falling apart," Rowett says.. "Possibly the pipe itself has dropped down or sunk some."
It's an inconvenience and an eyesore, and who has to pay for the fix is almost as mysterious as why it appeared.
Rowett says it would cost him $10,000 to fill up the hole with asphalt, but he also has a sinking feeling that unless he acts now, this problem's going to get a lot worse through the winter.
