LAGUNA BEACH : City Expedites Project to Shore Up Hillside Before Rains

With the rainy season creeping closer, the City Council has placed plans to stabilize a hillside on a “fast track,” after a landslide there last spring destroyed two homes and threatened others.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to launch the $800,000 project, which still needs the approval of about seven Rimrock Canyon property owners.

The hillside beneath Dunning Drive began slipping March 25, forcing the evacuation of two families. A month later, a second slide cracked open the earth at two neighboring properties.

Some dislocated homeowners were on hand Tuesday night as the council considered the plan to secure their neighborhood.

Delores Petricevich has been living with her daughter and son-in-law in Temecula since the second slide caused the pomegranate trees in her yard to tumble into the ravine.

“Dee has lived in your community almost 30 years,” her son-in-law told council members, urging them to secure the property. “That house is paid for, and it’s her only residence.”

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said the city’s responsibility is to protect the public property and facilities in the area. However, officials said, some residents will reap major benefits from the project. Geologists said that other properties could be imperiled by coming winter storms if the work is not done.

Now the city must hurry to get approval from affected property owners, at least one of whom has raised concerns about the project. Richard L. Dixon, whose home was destroyed by the landslide, expressed concerns in a letter to the council about the plan to steady the hillside, which includes packing dirt in the canyon up to 35 feet deep and 120 feet wide.

The result, the letter says, would be a “flat dust bowl” that would “destroy the aesthetic quality of the property.”