Yorba Linda Pays for Slide Damage

Yorba Linda has paid more than $1 million apiece to two families that won a lawsuit against the city over faulty maintenance of a storm drain, which caused a landslide that damaged their properties, both sides said Tuesday.

“I feel exhausted but somewhat happy,” said Dawn Muranaka, who, along with her husband, Ron, sued Yorba Linda after the 1998 landslide damaged their home and a neighbor’s property in the Bryant Ranch development overlooking the Riverside Freeway.

The other plaintiffs, Jack and Martha Raichart, could not be reached for comment.

Bob Owen, an attorney representing Yorba Linda, said the city had decided not to appeal last year’s Superior Court ruling ordering the payments because “we felt that spending more money to appeal it would probably be fruitless.”

Late last week, Owen said, he delivered two city checks: one for about $1.02 million to the Muranakas, and another for about $1.4 million to the Raicharts.

“We have to respect the judge’s decision,” he said Tuesday, “and that’s why we’re not appealing it.”

According to the lawsuit, the landslide was caused, in part, by rainwater that overflowed an incorrectly installed and negligently maintained storm drain. The families also contended that the city had ignored findings that the housing development was built on an active earthquake fault, in violation of state law.

In ruling on their behalf, Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Sundvold found that the landslide, which caused major fissures on both properties, had indeed resulted from the improperly maintained storm drain and that a contributing factor was the houses’ proximity to the fault, which had trapped water leaking from the storm drain.

“We’re delighted,” Bill Bollard, an attorney representing the Muranakas, said Tuesday. “This means that finally my clients will receive the money they need to move on and address the repairs that are needed to the property.

“Their home was severely damaged, and it stands to reason that, unless repairs are made to the storm system, other homeowners could receive the same damage. Our hope is that the city will make the necessary repairs so that there is no future damage to anybody.”

Owen, however, said the repairs have been made.

“We have done some upgrades to the storm drain, had it inspected and believe that it’s working properly,” he said. “We believe the problem has been taken care of.”