Laguna to Raze Homes Ruined in Storm

LAGUNA BEACH — In the next couple of weeks, workers hired by the city plan to complete what Mother Nature started last month: the demolition of several homes that have been ruined by fire and landslides.

Even as rain continued last week, property owners, city officials, geologists, insurers and, as one participant put it, “enough lawyers to usually kill any deal” gathered at City Hall to consider the options.

Their attention focused on what to do about two houses that slid from their foundations and one that burned to the ground in Mystic Hills during the Jan. 18 storm. Homeowners above and next to the slide area have been urging the city to quickly clear the landscape and take measures to prevent future slides.

“My major concern is that something is done before any more slides that would put the homeowners up-slope in jeopardy,” said William F. Garman, who lives on Vista Lane, a block above the damaged homes.

Because owners of the toppled houses did not appeal a city order to demolish the structures, work in the slide area will begin this week, provided the City Council approves the plan tonight.

Municipal Services Director Terry Brandt said the first step will be to build a sturdy bridge so workers can get to the fractured landscape where the homes are pitched forward and the street has sunk almost 20 feet.

By late next week, firefighters are scheduled to burn down a house that is perched precariously on the hillside, a bowed dwelling that was home to Tom and Gayla Hitzell.

Finally, armed with crowbars and hammers, demolition crews will pick away at the two other homes until they too are gone from the sagging hillside. One of them is already little more than a pile of rubble and a garage.

A report prepared for the city by Geofirm, a Laguna Beach geotechnical consulting company, states that the landslide was a “reactivation of an ancient landslide,” loosed by intense rain during the preceding three weeks.

“Surface drainage of improved areas may have been deficient in collecting and discharging surface water off-site due either to inadequate design or capacity,” the report says.

It also states that the ancient landslide area may be larger “than that currently reactivated” and could underlie at least one neighboring home.

The owner of that two-story house has encouraged the city to move swiftly to remove the ruined homes and to stabilize the land. After the demolition, the ground will be covered with plastic and sandbags.

“We are in favor of immediate demolition and subsequent winterization of the slope,” Steven Marshall said. “That’s our primary concern, protecting our residence.”

Brandt says the owners of the damaged homes have agreed to put up about $55,000 needed to pay for the razing, and that Farmers Insurance Co., which insures two of the three properties, will ultimately pick up the tab. An attorney for the insurance company, however, said that may not be the case.

“Even though the city may think eventually the money may come from Farmers, Farmers has an open investigation and no decisions have been made,” Lance LaBelle said.

In preparation for the demolition, engineers began testing at the site Monday. The testing involved drilling into the hillside behind the homes to find the upper limits of the landslide and make sure it is safe to proceed with the demolition.

Workers from the Irvine-based Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical Consultants drilled a hole 24 inches in diameter and 50 feet deep. Then a geologist was lowered into the opening so he could observe the geological conditions of the earth at that point, Brandt said.

Although some neighbors had worried that the test itself could undermine the slope, Brandt said Monday afternoon that the drilling went off without a hitch.

To protect the slope immediately after the homes are removed, the Geofirm report recommends that cracks be filled with soil and the ground covered with plastic and sandbags to control runoff and divert surface water to adjacent canyon areas.

The report recommends that a long-term drainage plan be developed and that more soil tests be done to determine how to stabilize and redevelop the property.