Laguna Lots Sit Atop Slide, Report Finds : Geology: In all, 38 Mystic Hills properties could be directly or indirectly affected by ancient slippage. Some fire victims may have to spend as much as $100,000 to stabilize property.

Two dozen properties in Laguna Beach’s fire-scarred Mystic Hills neighborhood--including 13 incinerated in the Oct. 27 blaze--are sitting atop a newly discovered ancient landslide, according to a long-awaited report released by the city’s consulting geologist Friday.

In all, 38 properties could be directly or indirectly affected by the landslide, the seven-week study by Laguna Beach-based Geofirm revealed.

Some fire victims may have to spend as much as $100,000 to stabilize their property for rebuilding unless neighbors unite and devise an area-wide solution to the problem, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Friday.

The news means more delays for disaster-weary residents, many of whom are still unable to begin the rebuilding process nearly seven months after the wildfire swept through this area, destroying or damaging more than 400 homes.

“The fire was an inconvenience, but what the city is putting us through has turned this into a tragedy and a disaster,” said Mary Peterson, who now lives in a mobile home on her burned lot. Peterson said the city should simply let fire victims sign a waiver and start rebuilding.

“I’d rather sign the paper, get on with the building and get on with my life,” she said.

Many residents in Mystic Hills and nearby Temple Hills--which is now being studied for similar problems--said they are more concerned with plummeting property values caused by the talk of ancient landslides than they are with the prospect of the earth shifting beneath their homes. Troubling geological conditions exist throughout Southern California, they noted.

But Frank said the city is simply doing what it must to protect the health and safety of its residents.

“We just cannot allow people to rebuild, or to build, without a geologist certifying it’s safe,” he said.

Because the overall “factors of safety” are “substantially below the normally accepted minimum level . . . for residential development,” Geofirm recommended in the report that the land be stabilized. The city, as owner of public land, would be responsible for an unspecified percentage of the cost, Frank said.

Geofirm is suggesting that the city and private geologists conduct a detailed study leading to the creation of a stabilization plan.

The $35,000 Geofirm report will be the subject of a special City Council meeting today at 3 p.m., during which Geofirm will explain the report to residents.

Frank said he will recommend that a second meeting be scheduled for May 21 so property owners, city staff, Geofirm and private geologists can share geological information and consider solutions.

The new findings could pit property owners whose homes were not burned in the firestorm against those who must rebuild over who should pay for shoring up the land.

Homes that are still standing “are not going to be affected (by ancient landslides) unless there is heavy rain--probably for more than one winter--or an earthquake hits the area,” Frank said. “Nobody needs to move out of their house at this point in time. It is stable right now.”

Fire victims face varying hurdles, depending in part on where their homes are positioned over the landslide, a narrow, tear-shaped area beneath the surface of the earth that measures 830 feet long by 340 feet wide.

The slide lies under a portion of a west-facing hillside, and the report notes that a “steeply dipping fault” lies along the landslide’s southern boundary.

Stabilization costs for each homeowner are not specified in the Geofirm report, but “worst case looks to be in the neighborhood of $100,000,” Frank said. “Most will not be that bad.” Some lots may be steadied for a “relatively modest” price, he said.

Individual solutions range from simply laying a deeper foundation than existed before the fire to pouring cement caissons deep into the earth, Frank said.

Marilyn Cabang, whose parents’ home was destroyed in the fire and whose property will require major grading and the installation of caissons, according to Geofirm, said her parents had hoped to rebuild on their Coronado Drive lot.

But she said she is uncertain how much of the geological work their insurance company will cover. Their policy allows building code upgrades costing as much as $10,000, Cabang said, “a drop in the bucket” considering the stabilization project that may lie ahead.

“If it seems like this is going to be more than we can handle, if too much money is going to come out of our pockets, we may have to consider . . . not rebuilding,” she said.

The area studied by Geofirm involves several rows of homes above City Hall, including portions of Vista Lane, Bermuda Drive, Coronado Drive and Anacapa Way. To examine the area, workers dug 10 two-foot-wide holes at various locations and studied exposed slopes and aerial photographs.

The landslide’s exact boundaries are ill-defined and could be revised upon further study, the report notes. Geofirm is recommending that deep borings be dug on lots next to the landslide to verify that the boundaries are accurate.

Geofirm officials declined to answer questions about the report Friday.

In recent months, some residents have become critical of the post-fire rebuilding effort, which they contend has resulted in their lots being too closely scrutinized for geological problems.

But Mayor Ann Christoph said earlier this week that had individual property owners learned later that their homes were atop a landslide, their financial burden might have been even greater.

“Those people would pretty much be out of luck because there wouldn’t be 20 other people in the same boat and there would be no reason for the city to get involved,” she said.

“And some of those problems are not solvable on the basis of one property at a time,” she added. “There may be a solution to the total problem that is much, much less expensive than each person trying to address it by himself.”

Teetering on the Edge

About two dozen lots in the fire-scarred Mystic Hills community lie atop a newly discoveredancient landslide. Fourteen other lots were found to be adjacent to the slide. Property owners with homes still standing might not have to stabilize their lots, but others who lost homesin the fire may be required to do extensive underground work before receiving city approval to rebuild.