Anaheim Hills Residents’ Slide Claims Termed Invalid : Damages: City attorney denies the city is liable, citing legal and procedural problems and insufficient data from claimants. Lawyer for the 246 homeowners denies the assertions.

The city attorney has held invalid the claims of 246 Anaheim Hills residents who allege the city is partially responsible for the destruction to their homes caused earlier this year by a massive landslide.

Citing various legal and procedural problems, Anaheim City Atty. Jack L. White said the claims contain “insufficient” information to determine whether the city is liable for any damages.

In a letter to the attorney for the claimants dated June 23, White wrote that the claims did not name the public employees allegedly responsible for the damages, lacked proper descriptions of the alleged injury, damage or loss, and were generally too vague. He declined to forward the claims to the City Council, saying the deficiencies rendered the claims invalid.

Attorney William E. Stoner, who represents the 246 homeowners and drafted the claims, denied White’s assertions.

“All the information the city says is not there is actually in the claims,” Stoner said on Monday.

He accused the city of “stonewalling and delaying” because it doesn’t want to act on the claims.

“I don’t believe the city intends to pay the claims,” Stoner said. “They’re going to make the homeowners jump through every hoop.”

Stoner said he plans to respond to White’s letter this week.

White could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, the homeowners filed claims against the city seeking millions of dollars in damages. The homeowners alleged that city officials were privy to geological studies indicating that the Anaheim Hills was prone to landslides but ignored the information and allowed the area to be developed.

City officials have said they first learned about the 25-acre landslide in June, 1992, when residents of Rimwood Circle reported buckling in the streets. Between July, 1992, and Jan. 17, the hillside moved one inch. But after heavy rains in January, the slide accelerated dramatically, moving as much as 14 inches in some places.

Three homes were abandoned as a result of the slide, and dozens sustained structural damage. Also filing claims were homeowners who say the resale value of their homes was substantially reduced by the slide.