LAGUNA BEACH : Landslide Victim’s Claim Rejected

The city is still grappling with the aftermath of a January landslide that destroyed three homes in the Mystic Hills neighborhood, rejecting a $750,000 claim of one of the property owners and taking steps to stabilize sewer and storm drain areas at the site.

The City Council last week unanimously rejected the claim of Marjean Hanson, who owns one of three houses that plunged from their foundations during the landslide.

“In terms of city liability, everything we’ve seen to this point indicates the city has no liability whatsoever for the landslide,” City Manager Kenneth C. Frank told the council.

However, Frank added, before the case is resolved, he expects it will prompt a flurry of lawsuits since more than eight lawyers are already involved.

“I don’t know what’s going to come out of it,” he said. “I think they’ll be suing everybody.”

Shortly after the landslide, a geotechnical consulting company hired by the city examined the area and issued a report that said aerial photographs indicate the landslide was a “reactivation of an ancient landslide” precipitated by three weeks of intense rainfall.

Hanson’s claim alleges that the city maintained water, sewer and storm lines in “a dangerous condition,” a charge that Frank called “absolutely, totally and completely impossible.”

Two other people affected by the landslide--a woman whose home burned to the ground after it plunged down a hill and a man who lives next door to one of the fallen houses--addressed the council last week, asking who will take responsibility for stabilizing the slope.

Frank said after the meeting that the city is responsible only for steadying the land in the areas of sewer and storm drains.

“It is not the city’s responsibility to rebuild somebody’s private property,” he said. “Our primary concern is with the city facilities and the general health and safety of the public.”

Frank said the city is also worried about the possibility of future flooding down slope from the landslide because a natural watercourse lies below the slide area.

“We’re concerned that the debris doesn’t turn into mud and come down into that watercourse and cause flooding down below,” he said.

Landslide debris could cause erosion or create “a damming effect” in the water channel that could result in flooding at the site or down slope, municipal services director Terry Brandt said.

The council also agreed to spend $32,000 to hire Geofirm, the Laguna Beach-based firm that previously examined the slope for the city, to conduct tests and provide further information on the nature and extent of the landslide and determine what steps must be taken to stabilize land in the area of city sewer and storm drains.

The work is expected to begin within two weeks, after the city gains approval from involved property owners.

Ultimately, Frank said, the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency may pick up the largest share of the tab for this study of the site.