SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : City Rejects Claims for Slide Damage

The City Council this week rejected damage claims against the city from three Dana Mesa homeowners whose property was damaged by landslides during heavy rains last March.

All three filed claims against the city July 1 asking an unspecified amount of damages for the costs of cleaning up, repairing and shoring up their properties and for diminished property values. Before the landslides, the homes were valued at $250,000 to $300,000 each.

The city’s claims adjuster had advised denial of the claims, which must be submitted before a lawsuit can be filed.

The damages occurred during three days of heavy rain in March when a hill between Dana Mesa Drive and Purple Sage Lane was reduced to a pile of rubble and shrubbery. The runoff also produced a chasm more than 100 feet long, 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

Since then, the homeowners have attempted to arrange for some sort of help. Their insurance companies have maintained that damage from the earth’s movement is not covered under their homeowner policies.

“We’re stuck,” said Gladys E. Leigh, a 75-year-old widower whose home was damaged when the hill above collapsed on her property. “We are still waiting for a geological report on the cause of the slide.”

A preliminary report indicated that the landslide could have been caused by “artificial fill overlying natural terrace deposits.”

Along with Leigh, the other homeowners who filed the action against the city are Susan E. Walsh and Geoffrey and Susan Morgan.

The city has tried to help arrange low-interest loans for the homeowners and has already paid $22,421 for emergency repairs made during the first few days of the slide. The money was used to pay for drainage pipes, lumber to board up the homes, sandbags, maintenance crews and other expenses, said William M. Huber, director of engineering and building for the city.

“The city has been very good to us,” Leigh said.