The Hazards of Hillside Homes

* I read with interest your March 29 editorial “Natural Tests of Judgment.”

As the president of a homeowners association whose units were significantly impacted by a hillside failure on Dec. 6, I have made many surprising discoveries in the last four months.

In 1993 I bought a townhouse in a new 16-unit complex on a hillside in Costa Mesa. I accept that with the well-publicized disasters California has suffered I knew there was some risk in buying a house on a hill.

However, I believe that when buying a property, a consumer has the right to assume that city officials have insisted that developers follow city laws and that they have enforced their own building codes and regulations. This was not the case at Pacific Avenue.

We have discovered that the city of Costa Mesa recognized that ours was a problem development from the beginning. Foundations were laid prior to approval of the plans; no drainage system was described to the city until shortly before the project’s completion; a stop-work order was issued and was ignored; final approval of plans was never given.

Also, our street, on a hillside, above a designated flood zone, has no drains. Surely the city should be expected to be especially vigilant in this case.

The drainage system that was installed consisted of one 8-inch pipe. Every drain from all common areas fed into this pipe. When it very quickly failed, the flood damage was multiplied. Didn’t we have the right to assume that the city had approved the building plans and required adequate drainage systems?

Yet our attorneys tell us that the city’s incompetent supervision of our project is not grounds for action against it.

I strongly believe that the law is wrong to protect cities when they are patently culpable. I don’t expect them to be liable for my roof (which is leaking), but I do think consumers should have some redress when the local government has been negligent in its duty to taxpayers.

In the meantime, I recommend that buyers of homes on hillsides take your advice and thoroughly investigate the property before purchasing.

MARK NAYLOR

Costa Mesa

* Re “Who Can You Blame When Land Collapses?” (March 20):

The article fails to mention the Orange County Board of Supervisors. That is where the original blame lies because that group has worked consistently and continuously for the benefit only of developers.

If I were researching this problem, I would examine if and how government inspectors’ and geologists’ warnings were allowed to be ignored through weak county organizations.

SKILLMAN HUNTER

Mission Viejo

* How much were the houses that fell off the hill in Laguna Niguel on March 19 valued at? When did the owners purchase the properties, and when were they originally built?

While I don’t claim to read carefully and accurately in the morning, I was unable to find the most important facts about the Laguna Niguel landslide in your story March 20.

Why is it important to know those details? I have friends living in Laguna Niguel in houses that look like those pictured. I know what they paid for their properties and when they were built. With deductive reasoning, I could have determined (without digging out my Thomas Guide) if they might be involved in this sad incident.

DEBBIE STOCK

Huntington Beach