Apartments filed federal suit against Benton, Bryant, and Saline County over flooding

Revive Apartments are located at 6101 Alcoa Road. Photo by Thelma Poole

By Ethan C. Nobles
[email protected]

The owners of an apartment complex in Benton have filed suit in federal court against the cities of Benton and Bryant, Saline County and 10 unknown defendants over alleged flooding problems, but tort immunity may disallow some of their claims.

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Click here to see a copy of the lawsuit filed by Benton Housing Associates Limited Partnership in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on Aug. 9, 2024.

The lawsuit alleges the Revive Benton Apartments – located at 6101 Alcoa Road – have been flooded multiple times dues to a road widening project that was started by Weaver-Bailey Contractors, Inc., in late 2016 or late 2017. The Alcoa Road widening project was finished December 2018, the lawsuit states.

The flooding at the apartments started upon completion of the project as the defendants – the cities of Benton and Bryant as well as Saline County – either removed drainage and natural retention facilities or were involved in the construction of new land, buildings and parking lots that resulted in water being diverted to the apartments, the lawsuit states.

The flooding has resulted in significant damage to the apartments as well as to personal property of residents, the lawsuit states.

The Plaintiffs have sued on the theory of inverse condemnation – that the cities of Benton, Bryant and Saline County have effectively deprived them of the use of their apartments by causing the alleged flooding issues. The Plaintiffs have asked to be compensated in an amount to be determined by a jury trial for the taking, the lawsuit states.

Inverse condemnation – the charge that governments have taken land by taking actions that have caused flooding – has been successfully used by property owners in Arkansas to recover the value of what has been taken from them. However, Arkansas Courts have held that cities and counties must do something more, such as actively engaging in causing flooding, than simply approving construction plans to successfully assert inverse condemnation claims. City of Sherwood v. Bearden, 2023 Ark. App. 67.

It remains to be seen whether the Plaintiffs will be able to collect on its inverse condemnation claim, but perhaps a tougher challenge lies in proving its nuisance claims – that the cities and county have failed in their duty to protect the apartments from flooding. That claim falls under the general category of a tort – the breach of a duty that causes harm to another. Ark. Code. Ann. § 21-9-301 provides a general tort immunity to government agencies unless they have liability insurance to cover damages by their acts.

The Plaintiffs have also asserted their tort claims against unidentified defendants, who are builders in the area that may or may not have contributed to the flooding problems at the apartments, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states the Plaintiffs filed suit previously, but dismissed it based on promises from the city of Benton to solve the flooding problems at the apartments. Those promises amounted to nothing, the apartments continue to experience flooding and the Plaintiffs filed the current action, the lawsuit states.

Watch MySaline for updates.

ARTICLES RELATED TO ALCOA WIDENING:

February 17, 2016 – Civ & Gov News: A New School, Bauxite K-9, County Website, New Water, Big Red, Shoppes Reveal, Hwy Widening https://www.mysaline.com/civ-gov-news-1602/

August 18, 2016 – Benton Mayor Announces Alcoa Road Widening Progress, Millage Decrease & a New Car Dealership https://www.mysaline.com/benton-3-announcements-081816/