Seeking Stability : 3 Laguna Families Find Lives in Flux After Slides Hit Homes

As their homes cling to a faltering hillside, the lives of three Laguna Beach families seem equally vulnerable and unstable.

The residents of Dunning Drive were forced from their homes by two recent landslides--possibly caused by heavy rains--that devastated one house, damaged another and left a gaping crevice in the yard of a third dwelling.

With broken dreams and worries about the future, the families are carrying on as best they can while anxiously waiting for geologists to determine the cause and extent of the landslides, whether the land can be stabilized--and whether more homes are threatened.

After being married nearly 50 years, Mel and Liz Erger suddenly find themselves thrust out of their beloved home and squeezed into a motel room. The couple, both in their 70s, had paid off the mortgage on the house where they had lived for 31 years and were envisioning a safe, restful future.

Then their home began to buckle March 24.

“We thought we had things buttonholed,” Liz Erger said. “Our future was secure.”

Now, her husband added, “We’re living in this horrible little room and getting on each other’s nerves.”

Ragged nerves are evident elsewhere in Rimrock Canyon, where residents whose homes are still intact wonder if the chasm in their neighborhood will creep closer to their properties.

“We don’t know, given some of the recent problems, what else could be in store,” said one Dunning Drive resident, who asked not to be identified. “What I do believe is that there’s reason for concern from everybody here.”

Landslides have previously plagued this city, destroying three homes along Mystic Lane in 1993 and delaying rebuilding in some areas devastated by the October, 1993, firestorm. In 1978, a massive landslide wrecked 22 homes in Bluebird Canyon, one canyon away from the community that is now threatened.

The Dunning Drive refugees have lost the tranquillity and order they once knew.

Richard Dixon and his wife, Analee Philippi-Dixon, who lived next-door to the Ergers for about 25 years, are now renting a home elsewhere in Laguna Beach. They still have a mortgage on the Dunning Drive home, which city officials are calling a total loss.

Dixon said most homes along his street were built in the ‘50s and likely range in value from about $300,000 to $500,000. He estimated his home’s value to be nearly $400,000.

“At this juncture, it’s an uninsured loss, so I don’t know what we’ll do,” said Dixon, adding that he still hopes to eventually stabilize the land and rebuild. “We lived there because of the peace and quiet of the canyon and the solace that was there.”

The Dixons’ property began sinking March 24 while they were in Baja. The slide migrated up the hill, collapsing the back yard first and ultimately causing the house to sink about four feet and begin to break up. The garage, which was wrenched from its foundation, now twists in one direction while the house turns in another.

Then, on April 25, a second slide created a fissure 10 to 12 feet wide in Delores Petricevich’s yard, next to the Ergers’ property, and on an adjacent undeveloped lot. Petricevich’s pomegranate trees tumbled into the ravine.

Petricevich, 75, who like the Ergers had paid off her mortgage, is temporarily living with her daughter and son-in-law in Temecula.

Last week, about 40 residents gathered to consider their options, which hinge in part on the city’s response to this latest landslide problem. In part, they discussed the possibility of forming an assessment district to help pay to stabilize the area.

“The effort is to try to take any steps we can take to protect the street and prevent any further losses beyond what has occurred,” Dixon said.

Geologist Fred Pratley, who owns Coastal Geotechnical in Laguna Beach, said he and Harrington Geotechnical Engineering in Orange prepared a report for the residents about two weeks ago.

They concluded that heavy rains had eroded the lower canyon wall and recommended the ravine be filled as quickly as possible with at least 20 feet of earth.

“It was pretty obvious the thing to do is put in an earthen mass at the bottom of the slope to buttress the toe of the slide,” Pratley said.

But he added it would be an expensive project and one neither the city nor residents could likely afford.

City contractors have drilled three holes about 2 feet wide and 65 feet deep in the street and inserted sensors to detect sounds of earth movement.

The city’s pending geological report will provide information about what caused the slides and whether there could be additional problems in the area, Municipal Services Director Terry Brandt said.

“Right now we’re concerned about the stability of the street and other public utilities in the street,” Brandt said. “That’s our responsibility at this point.” He said individual landowners are responsible for stabilizing their own property.

The Ergers say they would like to move back into the home where last year they spent $50,000 to remodel the kitchen. But they know they might have to move on.

They are now considering moving to Leisure World, a more stable and less expensive area.

“We’ll be back to square one again in our life,” Liz Erger said, “buying a house and making payments.”

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report.

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Crumbling Foundations

Three Laguna Beach canyon homes have been damaged or destroyed by recent landslides, forcing the evacuation of occupants. Slide-cause theories range from rain-saturated ground to ancient landslides, but a geological study due next week will give the official cause. The damage on Dunning Drive:

1. 1323: Large split in front yard

2. 1339: House is buckling

3. 1345: Home slipping down hill; front-door welcome mat almost level with doorknob