Permit Process Streamlined

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council has introduced an amendment to its landslide moratorium ordinance that would streamline the building permit process for 37 homeowners on the west end of the Sea View housing tract.

The amendment, if adopted in two weeks as expected, will become effective Sept. 29. It affects homeowners in an area just to the east of the Portuguese Bend slide area.

Under the terms of the measure, owners of the 37 lots no longer need to apply to the City Council for a “moratorium exemption” before beginning the permit process to make structural improvements to their homes. The permit process still will require adequate drainage and geological reports before building can begin in the geologically sensitive area.

A building moratorium was imposed several years ago in the area of several slow-moving landslides on the city’s south side. The slides destroyed numerous homes and damaged roadways. In the past two years the city has graded and removed tons of dirt from the slide area to virtually stop the slides.

City geologists stated in a staff report that the earth is sufficiently stable in the Sea View area to permit home improvements like room additions and swimming pools, provided care is taken to provide adequate drainage. Swimming pools must be equipped with a special leak detection system to warn of excess water filtering into the subsurface. Geologists have said that the slides may have been activated by excess water from runoff and poor drainage.