Drain Plan Advances

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which agreed to a $35-million settlement to Big Rock Mesa homeowners in January, has tentatively approved an elaborate storm drain project designed to prevent a repeat of the landslide that damaged or destroyed 250 houses in 1983.

The board’s approval of the environmental study for the storm drain project prompted an angry reaction from homeowners in the exclusive Malibu community who objected to paying for a project with no cost estimate.

Ken Chiate, attorney for the homeowners in the recently settled lawsuit against the county and a Big Rock resident himself, said: “We don’t know if it will cost $1,000 per home or $50,000.”