The City of West Lake Hills has sued a resident, claiming that he continued to live on a Yaupon Valley Road property in spite of a condemned septic system that violates state and local health laws and causes a public health nuisance.

"We've not had to take this kind of legal action before," City Administrator Robert Wood said.

The case is headed to trial in state District Court on Sept. 13. A district judge ordered a temporary injunction in June — agreed upon by both the city and Ray McMackin, the property's owner — that bars occupation of the residence at 1100 Yaupon Valley Road until the trial has been completed or the failed septic system has been replaced and passed a city inspection, among other requirements.

The septic system is cracked and leaks human waste into the groundwater system within 10 feet of Little Bee Creek, which drains directly into Lake Austin, according to an amended petition and request for permanent injunction filed in state District Court last month.

Lake Austin is a primary source of drinking water for City of Austin residents.

In 2003 , three years before McMackin bought the Yaupon Valley Road property, the city condemned the septic system there after an inspection, the amended petition said. City officials said they were unaware until last year that the house was occupied.

McMackin said he moved out of 1100 Yaupon Valley Road at the end of May, in accordance with the city's June 1 deadline to vacate the house. He said he is putting in a new septic system while living temporarily in South Austin and hopes it will be installed by the end of this month; he plans to move back in afterward.

He does not dispute that a new septic system is needed. But he called the city's handling of the situation excessive. "I'm certainly not the only old septic system in West Lake Hills," he said.

About two-thirds of the approximately 1,000 homes in West Lake Hills have septic systems, according to Wood. He could not say how many are not in compliance, but added: "We don't have any in the state that (McMackin's) was in."

Yaupon Partners LLC and McMackin, who said he is the sole manager of the real estate partnership, generally deny the city's allegations, according to another court filing last month . Yaupon Partners owns the 1100 Yaupon Valley Road property, which is valued at $367,306 , according to the Travis Central Appraisal District .

McMackin said he did not know what a septic system was, let alone the magnitude of the problem, when he bought the property in 2006. But real estate contract documents provided by the city show that McMackin signed and initialed pages indicating that the property cannot be occupied in the present condition, that the septic system was not licensed and that the tank was leaking when he bought the property.

"If that was in there, it certainly didn't register a red flag with me as something that was a serious issue" in terms of time and financial investment, McMackin said. "I doubt I read the whole thing through."

City officials said they gave McMackin extension after extension to replace the septic system but that he missed the deadlines, which led the city to file the lawsuit. McMackin faces 42 counts of violating the city's septic system regulations — one violation that occurred on 42 days until the City Council instructed staff not to issue any more, Wood said. Each Class C misdemeanor could mean a fine up to $2,000.

McMackin said he didn't have money for a new septic system in part because of an imbroglio with the city last year.

McMackin bought a house in South Austin so that he could move it to West Lake Hills, but officials discovered a city rule prohibiting prebuilt structures from being moved there. McMackin moved it to the city to be temporarily stored.

Then the city denied McMackin's request for a variance to the rule. The city then said it would refund and waive fees and fines if McMackin moved the house out of the city and replace the septic system on the Yaupon Valley Road property by the city-set deadlines. McMackin said he ended up giving the house to a friend and moving it back to South Austin.

On Feb. 23, the city revoked the certificate of occupancy for the property due to the continued violation and public health nuisance, the petition said. Wood said Thursday that the problem has not been fixed.

Until the court issued a temporary restraining order June 7, McMackin continued to live in the house with the bad septic system, according to the petition.

"They're just wrong about that," McMackin said, maintaining that he moved out of the Yaupon Valley Road property at the end of May.

The city seeks costs accrued in the enforcement of this matter, civil damages of up to $25,000 for each violation and for each day of violation, attorneys' fees and costs of the suit, the city's petition said.

In addition, the city has asked the court to declare that Yaupon Partners and McMackin have violated state health and safety laws and created a public nuisance and that the septic system failed to meet state and local standards.