LOS ANGELES : City to Pay $2.1 Million to Owners of Imperiled Homes

The Los Angeles City Council approved $2.1 million in payouts this week for two Pacific Palisades families who stand to lose their hillside homes in a landslide because of poorly engineered roads below.

So far, the city has paid out $5.5 million to settle five lawsuits over the construction of streets that weakened the hillsides in the Castellermare Mesa and Porto Marina neighborhoods.

Deputy City Atty. Leslie Penchuk said he is negotiating settlements in nine other lawsuits. Two other property owners also might file suit. “I hope it will be resolved fairly soon,” Penchuk said.

The settlement provides $1.25 million for Howard and Kay Smith and $850,000 for Gerald, Doreen and Harvey Rochman. In exchange, the Smiths and Rochmans will turn their properties over to the city.

Last year, a Superior Court jury found the city and Caltrans liable for the problems created when Pacific Coast Highway and some streets were built. The city approved construction in 1926.