Beginning in late 2004, a significant amount of water intruded on Leila Bailey’s residential property in Gwinnett County. She eventually brought suit for trespass, nuisance and negligence against Annistown Road Baptist Church “ARBC”, the owner of the property directly across the street, and against Gwinnett County, which maintained the adjacent roads and utility lines. At trial, the jury returned a verdict partially in her favor, and she appeals. Both defendants cross-appeal. Construed in favor of the verdict,1 the evidence shows that Bailey lives at the intersection of Annistown Road and Spain Road in Snellville, Gwinnett County. ARBC is located across Spain Road and it is uphill from Bailey’s property. Bailey purchased the property, a corner lot, in 1985, and it is the lowest land in the surrounding area. Some time after moving in, Bailey experienced surface water problems, and for a period of years she landscaped the yard, added truckloads of gravel, and added two or three French drains and a storm water retention pit to help control runoff. These projects ended in 1996, and they appeared to control the runoff problem.
In 1997, the County began work on a project to widen Annistown Road from two to four lanes. The County condemned some of Bailey’s property and paid her $40,000 compensation for a right-of-way and permanent construction easement. Bailey lost to the County land, landscaping, fencing, a play area and some portion of the French drains. The County project was completed in 2000, and it included the installation of curbs and gutters on Annistown Road to control runoff, whereas none had been there before; these improvements were for the purpose of containing and controlling stormwater and routing it into a stormwater system. Bailey understood that these improvements would take care of the water coming from Annistown Road, and she did not experience water runoff problems after completion of the project. She elected not to replace the French drains or the playground. Although the cost to replace the French drains was used during the negotiations for the compensation she received, Bailey did not commit to anyone nor have a duty to any third party to rebuild them.
