Coastal Commission Postpones Hearing : Landslide: Panel delays consideration of proposals to remove debris on highway in Dana Point.

Caravans had been planned and speeches prepared, but the California Coastal Commission ended up postponing a much-anticipated hearing here Friday on proposals to clear tons of landslide debris from a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point.

While the delay disappointed homeowners and businesses affected by the massive slide that blocked the highway last February, Dana Point officials said it will give them more time to gather additional information needed by the Coastal Commission.

“It’s an inconvenience for everyone, but we’d rather have a workable project after a month,” said Nancy A. Lucast, a coastal land use consultant recently hired to assist Dana Point.

Commission planners were recommending approval of Dana Point’s main alternative to clear the highway and stabilize the bluff. The commission will consider the issues next month at a meeting in San Diego.

Many homeowners and business people in San Clemente affected by the slide planned on attending the meeting here, although most were told Thursday night that the hearing would be postponed.

The landslide last February destroyed five homes on La Ventana in San Clemente above the highway and endangered 45 others.

The highway closure between Palisades Drive and Camino Capistrano has also hurt businesses, primarily in north San Clemente.

Dana Point officials are seeking a project permit from the Coastal Commission for a plan to clear debris from the highway and restore the bluffs through a combination of retaining walls and underground cables, known as a tieback.

The plan, recommended for approval by commission planners, is the first choice of everyone involved, officials said.

The Coastal Commission had also been set to hear an appeal filed by San Clemente resident Peter Shikli, who is opposed to a backup plan by Dana Point to clear the highway and build a 300-foot-long caisson retaining wall along the bluff.

Shikli, who lost his home in the slide, said the wall would do nothing to prevent future landslides, and is inferior to the tieback plan. Commission planners indicated they too were against the caisson alternative.

However, Dana Point emergency services coordinator Andy Anderson said the city needs the backup plan in case the city can’t make the needed agreements with La Ventana homeowners to proceed with the tieback alternative.

La Ventana property owners are considering a revised agreement form that would give them the right to sue over the cause of the landslide, while allowing the city to proceed with the favored tieback plan.

Shikli said he signed the agreement Friday morning and is hopeful others will soon follow.