Couple Sues to Get Backyard Back

Forced to give up the land that they thought was their backyard, a Simi Valley couple is suing the Rancho Simi Valley Recreation and Park District to regain use of the property.

Gary and Deborah Moss filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, stating that the park district denied their constitutional rights for equal protection under the law in taking back district land because the park officials have handled similar problems differently with other homeowners.

The Mosses had to turn over about 1,500 square feet of property to the park district last year, despite their request to buy or lease the land that they had believed for years was their own.

In March, the park district allowed 43 homeowners on Texas Avenue--who also had yards that encroached on property owned the park district--to purchase the land behind their homes.

Park district officials said at the time that the circumstances were different for the Texas tract homeowners because the land was not of the same value. The Texas tract homeowners had also had built gardens, put up fences and in one case built a pool on portions of park property.

In the couple’s lawsuit, the Mosses say they should have been given the same option. Instead, the loss of land has diminished the value of the Mosses home, the suit says. And the couple has suffered emotional distress.

The lawsuit seeks to force the district to sell the land or rent it back to them, said attorney Glen Reiser.

Park district board of directors Chairman Jim Meredith said he could not comment on the case.