First of Massive Trials Over Landslide on Big Rock Mesa Finally About to Begin

They were spared severe damage when the landslide struck.

Million-dollar houses on Big Rock Mesa toppled around them on that frightening day in 1983, but somehow, the home of Elizabeth and Russell Nichols survived the shifting tons of earth.

The damage to their lives has come since then: the fear of the next slide, the mounting bills, the wrangling with attorneys, the years of waiting for a settlement and the realization that their dream home, once worth several hundred thousand dollars, may have little or no resale value.

“The slide hasn’t upset us as much as all the things that have happened in the past five years,” said Elizabeth Nichols, who at 72 is two years younger than her husband.

But the waiting could soon end. The Nicholses are among seven Big Rock homeowners over 70 years old whose case against Los Angeles County and several other government agencies is finally going to trial. Opening arguments begin this week in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Attorneys say that even if the homeowners get a favorable judgment in the case, they may not receive enough money to cover the huge loss in value of their homes. With appeals, the suit could still drag on for years.

Already, the toll has been heavy. Two of the elderly plaintiffs have died in the last year. One of them was actor-producer John Houseman, whose wife, Joan, is one of the remaining litigants. Homeowner Robert Moses died last summer, but his wife remains involved in the case.

The trial for the seven elderly residents is a precursor to the colossal trial for the other Big Rock Mesa homeowners, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 15.

The trial for the elderly homeowners was separated from the main trial, involving 250 other homeowners, to spare them several more years of litigation. The decision in their case will have no legal effect on the massive trial for the remaining Big Rock homeowners.

In both trials, the Big Rock case pits the homeowners and their insurance companies against Los Angeles County, county Waterworks District No. 29 and the county Flood Control District. In turn, the county and the other agencies have sued the residents, and the homeowners have sued each other in the complex case.

At stake is more than $300 million in claims and counterclaims. The Big Rock trial is expected to be the most expensive in the history of Los Angeles County. Attorneys fees alone are estimated at $100 million. Los Angeles County has already spent more than $7 million defending the case.

The homeowners are suing the county for approving development of Big Rock Mesa with seepage pits and horizontal drains, rather than sewers. They say the county’s action contributed to a rise in ground water, which triggered the massive landslide, destroying or damaging about 250 homes.

The county contends that the homeowners are to blame for the slide because they did not drain water from the mesa; that they contributed to the disaster by using septic tanks, showers and toilets, and that they blocked attempts by the county to build a sewer in Malibu.

Norton and attorney Ken Chiate, the homeowners’ lead attorneys, have likened the county’s suit to charging residents with causing the landslide by using their homes in a “normal” fashion. However, David Casselman, one of the county’s attorneys, said the homeowners were aware of the ground-water problem and basically ignored it.