Community Weighs In On Landslide Remediation Project

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council heard comments from the community regarding the Portuguese Bend landslide Remediation Project this week as part of the process to get started on the $33-million endeavor.

The last time that the issue was brought before the city council was in December 2020 for a scoping session about the initial study. Tuesday's meeting served as a public hearing for community members to express their thoughts about the project.

"The project contemplated is intended to prevent something catastrophic from happening. We know the landslide has been moving since 1956 and it hasn't stopped," said City Manager Ara Mihranian.

At the meeting, council members mentioned how recent rains have impacted the landslide area, which has grown to impact nearby areas including the Abalone Cove area and Seaview neighborhood that have seen a lot of movement in the last couple of months, Mihranian said.

Community members expressed concerns about how native plants and wildlife will thrive in adverse conditions and how nearby communities would be impacted by the intrusive construction operations. During public comments, community members criticized the lack of inclusion of alternatives and information about the environmental impact that the project would cause.

Rancho Palos Verdes resident and chair of the Palos Verdes-South Bay Sierra Club Al Sattler suggested that the draft environmental impact report needed a full rewrite.

The landslide complex came out of dormancy almost seven decades ago, and since then has caused enormous problems: The land shifts so much that most utilities can’t be buried underground, so sewage flows in an above-ground pipe that’s still susceptible to fracture. Nearby homes are plagued with cracked walls and foundations, broken pipes and crooked windows and door frames, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In layman’s terms, the goal of the project is to prevent rainwater from entering the landslide complex and dry up the water that’s already underground so that the land moves less.

Rancho Palos Verdes’ plan calls for a three-pronged approach: infilling cracks in the ground that let in rain, creating a drainage system to route water to the ocean and installing a system to relieve water pressure underground and lower groundwater levels, according to the project’s environmental impact report.

Council members said they will continue to hear input from the public about the draft EIR until April 15. The deadline to submit public comments is 4:30 p.m. on April 14. Comments can be submitted to publicworks@rpvca.gov.

After the public review period ends, an environmental consultant will review the comments to make final revisions to the report. The final EIR is anticipated to be brought before the city council in the summer of 2023, according to city officials.

Patch staffer Chris Lindahl contributed to this report.