Rolling Hills : Slide Settlement Delayed

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has delayed action on a proposed $2.9-million settlement with 29 property owners in the Flying Triangle landslide area.

The board postponed the matter until Tuesday on a motion by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who said the county may be better off going to trial, according to a spokesman.

Supervisor Deane Dana, whose district includes Rolling Hills, supports the settlement, according to a spokesman.

Last week, a $1.5-million settlement between the property owners and the city was formally approved in Torrance Superior Court. Trial is scheduled to begin there Jan. 5 on a $31-million damage suit in which owners of 21 parcels in the Flying Triangle are suing several agencies, including the county, and engineering firms they contend are responsible for triggering the slow-moving landslide in 1980.

Hahn spokesman Dan Wolf said the supervisor is concerned that settling the landslide case will “send a message that the county will settle out of court and people (in slide areas) can make a lot of money.”

He said the county was found liable several years ago for the Portuguese Bend landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes and is being sued over the Big Rock Mesa slide in Malibu. “Hahn wants to know where it will all end,” Wolf said.

Wolf said Hahn will decide by Tuesday whether to support the settlement. David Kelsey, a deputy county counsel, said settlement was recommended because the outcome of a trial is uncertain and the lengthy litigation could cost the county more than $1 million.

The proposed county settlement calls for immediate payment of more than $2 million to property owners, and payment of another $848,000 in January, 1988, Kelsey said. In addition, the county would make loans up to a total of $5.5 million at below-market rates to help owners who want to buy other homes.