Fifth Home Threatened as Landslide Accelerates

A slow-moving landslide that has forced four families to relocate and threatens a fifth home is accelerating, according to a recent report by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

The report says the Flying Triangle slide in the southwest corner of Rolling Hills is accelerating at an unknown rate and causing increased drainage problems. The slide is moving south toward Klondike Canyon from near Ranchero Road between Paintbrush Canyon and the tributary canyon of Klondike Canyon. A massive buttress or earthen dam in Klondike Canyon would stop the main mass movement, according to the report, but the expense would be prohibitive, Councilwoman Ginny Leeuwenburgh said.

The report is the sixth commissioned by the Rolling Hills Community Assn. to assist it in planning road repairs, Leeuwenburgh said.

About 30 homeowners in the Flying Triangle area are paying for the ongoing study and would be responsible for the cost of the buttress, according to Art Keene, a county geologist familiar with the slide. Keene said a buttress could cost millions of dollars. Putting homes on steel beams that would allow them to adjust to the slide would be more affordable, he said.

The report came as no surprise to city officials. “I don’t think it is a surprise to anybody,” Leeuwenburgh said. “It was identified as a massive slide area over a year ago.”