Anaheim May Wreck Home to Save Another

Anaheim officials Wednesday declared a local emergency in their race to save one of three luxury homes from sliding farther down a hillside.The unusual declaration allows the city to take command of the situation even though it’s on private property.

Previously, the city had dismissed the slow-moving landslide in Anaheim Hills as a matter for lawyers and private geologists, because no public utilities or streets appeared to be in jeopardy.

But as the homes continued to slip at the rate of 1 to 2 feet per day and dirt and debris sprinkled a private street closed to traffic, city officials concluded that quick action could save the last of the three homes to slide.

“We’ve always maintained that this is about public safety. We’ve done a good job in that nobody’s injured,” said city spokesman John Nicoletti.

“Our second responsibility is to property. There’s an opportunity to save the property on 373 Ramsgate,” he said.

City engineers, geologists and a demolition crew will decide today whether to knock down a teetering $2.5-million home on Ramsgate Drive that was red-tagged last month, forcing its owners out.

Razing it, officials believe, might help limit the slide’s movement, saving the house at 373 Ramsgate Drive from destruction. That house was red-tagged Saturday, when the landslide accelerated rapidly.

Until Tuesday, lawyers representing property owners kept the city and neighbors from doing much more than surveys.

A neighboring, unfinished home was red-tagged last week and collapsed on itself Monday.

The slide at the top of Ramsgate Drive is within the gated Royal Ridge community, above the Riverside Freeway in Santa Ana Canyon. Homes there range from 3 to 12 years old.

City-hired geologists have been surveying the site since Tuesday. Preliminary findings indicated that the slide could be connected to fill dirt brought in by developers years ago, Nicoletti said.