A sign on David Forbes' front door sums up the bitter feelings he has for a city government that he says ruined the road in front of his small southeast Provo home along with his life.
Taped on his front door, at 2115 S. Arkansas Ave., is a sign telling the city where it should kiss him once he dies.Forbes' resentment stems from a six-year quarrel with the city over an unpaved but graded public street it partially relinquished to a developer for a housing project called East Mountain Estates. Provo no longer maintains the steep, jagged road on which Forbes has been the only resident for 30 years.
Not only does Forbes, 59, believe the city owes him a new road but also compensation for years of agony, including two heart attacks and a divorce.
Forbes, his ex-wife, Kay Forbes, and their son-in-law Steve Mabey filed a $36 million lawsuit against Provo. The three are seeking a total of $12 million in damages, alleging the city violated their rights as property owners. They'd also like to see Provo punished to the tune of $24 million. A 4th District Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments next week.
David Dixon, assistant city attorney, concedes Provo probably has some liability - possibly in the thousands of dollars but certainly not in the millions - in what he calls a "miserable" case.
The battle began after Forbes discovered the City Council vacated the street known as both Alabama Avenue or Arkansas Avenue in 1992 without notifying him or publishing four required notices in the newspaper.
The council attempted to correct the mistake four years later by publishing the notices and sending a letter to Forbes before voting on the matter again. Forbes said he never received the letter, a claim Dixon doesn't dispute. The council only gave up half the 40-foot-wide road for the housing development the second time, leaving the strip running past Forbes' house in the public domain.
Nevertheless, the city no longer grades the road. Nor does it plow snow in the winter.
Meanwhile, new homes have popped up around Forbes' 900- square-foot house, sandwiching it between a used car lot and private property.