Landslide Lawsuit Settled

Los Angeles County has settled the last of a series of lawsuits filed by 30 property owners whose homes have been damaged or destroyed since 1980 by landslides in the Flying Triangle area of Rolling Hills.

The Board of Supervisors agreed without comment Tuesday to pay attorney Howard Slusher, whose ocean-view home off Portuguese Bend Road has been badly damaged by slide movement, $150,000 and to lend him $850,000 at below-market rates.

Slusher, an agent for professional athletes, claimed damage of more than $2 million. The county also could have been forced to pay interest on the $2 million and Slusher’s legal fees, the county counsel’s office said in recommending the settlement.

Tuesday’s action follows by 11 months the county’s agreement to pay 29 other property owners $2.9 million and to lend them $5.5 million more at below-market rates. The property owners claimed damage totaling more than $28 million.

The owners have claimed that the county, in approving construction of homes and roads in the hilly Flying Triangle area overlooking the Portuguese Bend coastline, created drainage problems that have caused erosion and landslides.

In addition, the property owners have alleged that the Portuguese Bend slide, for which the county was found liable 21 years ago, led to loss of geologic support for the Flying Triangle area.

The City of Rolling Hills has also settled with the homeowners, while two other defendants--the Rolling Hills Community Assn. and the private California Water Service Co.--are contesting the suits in Torrance Superior Court.