The Downward Slide of History

Memories can be short in California, but they cannot be so abbreviated as to leave communities unchastened by a 1978 landslide that destroyed about 60 homes in Laguna Beach. Yet in a similar topographical area of that town on Monday, three houses, one built only six years ago, were destroyed by a mudslide.

And one need not be a geologist to wonder, while riding the scenic Pacific Coast Highway between San Clemente and Capistrano Beach, what might happen if saturated hills began slip-sliding away beneath a row of houses perched precariously on an overhead cliff. Some of that cliff melted down on Monday.

These kinds of heart-stopping construction are no rarity. They are visible all over Southern California--houses rising on stilts, patios protruding on the brink of precipices, back yards inviting swollen creeks. Many are built only after extensive governmental review, which raises the question--why aren’t the standards tougher? They should be. Every homeowner who ever tinkered as a kid with an Erector Set knows better.

Those with the power of the permit ought to have a much better handle on the basic geology of land on which development is proposed. Don’t let builders get away with things. And the season’s leaky roofs are a reminder to prosecute those phony roofing-repair operations--especially those preying on the elderly.

Review building codes now. Don’t wait to ask the tough questions. It’s too late when Laguna’s mayor wonders, after the fact, “How do you ever begin to explain this?”