City to Condemn Slide-Threatened Plots

The City Council voted Tuesday night to condemn a Peralta Point home and five vacant lots in danger of slipping down an unstable hillside, offering $30,000 to the property owners.

“This gives us the right to file an action in court to have the court give us possession,” Assistant City Atty. Wayne Winthers said. “The ultimate goal is to stabilize the hillside so it doesn’t affect any other properties.”

Homeowners from 15 houses in the Vista Royale and Peralta Point areas were ordered to evacuate in May and June due to safety concerns and so developers could demolish the homes to repair the unstable hillside.

Although 14 homeowners have reached a settlement with developer 396 Investment Co., one property owner did not settle with the developer, Winthers said.

Rick Herrera, who co-owns the property with his brother and mother who lived in the evacuated house, said the developer offered his family 25% of the property’s market value, which was not acceptable. Herrera said the property would be worth approximately $3 million if the hillside was not considered dangerous.

“We have never asked for more than fair market value,” Herrera said. “They are taking away my 86-year-old mother’s house where she planned to live out the rest of her life.”

Herrera said his family is suing the city, the developers and the Vista Royale Homeowners Assn. for negligence, and is set to go to trial in April of next year.

“What [396 Investment Co.] has done is make deals with everybody and put our back to the wall,” he said. “There is no need for them to make a deal with us now because the city is condemning the property.”

Herrera’s attorney, David Grant, said although more costly, the developer should repair the failing slope from the bottom up to save the Herreras’ property on top of the hill.

“If the slope is fixed at the bottom, their lots are worth $2.5 to $3 million,” Grant said. “Rather than fix the slope as it is they are going to go right through the lots and cut down the slope.”

Marissa Espino can be reached at (714) 966-5879.