Hill Stability Not County’s Obligation : La Conchita: Officials tell residents that there is not enough money to stop the advance of a hillside threatening their homes.

Ventura County officials told about 85 La Conchita residents Saturday that the county does not have the money to stop the relentless advance of an unstable hillside threatening homes in the beachside community north of Ventura.

Moreover, it is not the county’s responsibility to control the steadily deteriorating slope, officials said, but that of the La Conchita Ranch Corp., the farming group that owns the huge avocado and citrus ranch above the community.

But angry residents said the county should take the initiative by suing the ranch or forcing its owners to correct the problem. “I think we are just being pacified,” resident Donna Hubbard said. “To me, they should be putting more pressure on the ranch.”

The hillside has slipped about 15 feet since this year’s torrential rains began pounding the county, threatening about a dozen homes and trailers along Vista del Rincon.

Geologists hired by the county as consultants said the best way to stop the slide would be to grade the hillside, a solution they estimate would cost about $30 million.

Ranchers are voluntarily pumping ground water out of the hillside at a rate of 3 gallons per minute, which may improve the situation, geologists said. Ground water appears to be a major contributing factor to the potential for landslide.

Experts predict that the hill may continue to shift up to three months after the rainy season as ground water moves and settles in cracks throughout the fragile slope.

The farmers are also considering digging horizontal wells at the base of the hillside to draw out more ground water, county officials said.

Geologists offered some reassurances to residents during an outdoor meeting in the middle of Fillmore Street: The immediate danger of a massive landslide is past, provided intense rains do not return this season.

“As long as I get to wear my sunglasses, you’re probably not going to be in an emergency situation,” engineer Rob Anderson told community members under brilliant sun and sky Saturday morning. “You are coming out of some really critical times.”

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County emergency crews and Red Cross officials remain on standby, saying they are prepared to evacuate residents at a moment’s notice if necessary.

A dozen county officials were on hand to answer questions from residents, who greeted them for the most part with suspicion, saying they believe the county should step in and force ranch owners to solve the problem.

“We are going round and round in circles,” said Mary Lou Olson, whose brown-shingled home is right under the potential landslide area. “Look at the way that microphone is being passed back and forth.”

Sitting on sandbags left from the last storm and in lawn chairs dragged from porches, residents fired question after question at the officials.

Foremost in their concerns was whether the county has any plans to sue ranchers. County attorney John McBride said discussing lawsuits is premature. He said he thinks the ranchers are making every effort to fix the problem. Ultimately, responsibility will fall to them, he said.

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“If there is an event, there will be litigation and I’m sure everybody will be involved,” McBride said. “It may be that we all end up in litigation eventually.”

Tom Berg, the county’s director of the Resource Management Agency, promised that construction in La Conchita will still be considered, although carefully, given the tenuous geology of the area.

Residents fear their property values are declining because of the potential disaster. They asked county assessor Glenn Gray if taxes will also drop.

“We will review all these values for the 1995-1996 tax season,” Gray said. “We will reduce those values as warranted. There probably will be some loss of value along Vista del Rincon.”

Geologists attempted to dispel rumors, including fears of residents that the entire community would be wiped out all the way to the freeway in a landslide.

“Our best guesstimate is that it is going to be a very slow progressive move,” Anderson said. “When is it going to move? I just don’t know. It’s unpredictable.”