After an hourlong discussion, no new motion was proposed at last Thursday’s Community Council meeting regarding the Landmark condominium/townhouse development on Tramonto Drive in Castellammare, recently downsized from 82 units to 61. Although the council voted last March to send an appeal to the California Coastal Commission in support of Castellammare residents who objected to the controversial project, the commission is expected to approve the ocean-view project at its February 8 meeting near San Diego. The council learned at last Thursday’s meeting that while the proposed development now has the support of two of its most critical opponents, it is still opposed by the Castellammare Mesa Homeowners Association, as well as Council advisor Jack Allen. “One of the reasons the Council originally objected to the Landmark project was that the applicant did not provide a shoring plan indicating how the hillside would be stabilized during the excavation. A shoring plan is still not available,” Allen said at the Council meeting. “If they start excavating they could trigger a slide. With temporary shoring we could at least know how they are going to hold that hill up there.” Allen, a retired attorney, was also concerned about who would be liable in the event that the hillside did give way. “If there’s a slide, who’s going to pay for it?” he asked. “Inevitably, the city pays for it and we get hammered. That’s why we have to be concerned.” Andrew Martin, president of the CMHO, who has been involved in the appeal process for the last six years, is also opposed for the same reason. He noted that in the staff report recently released by the Coastal Commission that both the “applicant and the City of Los Angeles acknowledge, for the first time, I believe, that excavation could reactivate the slide” and poses a risk to the stability of single-family homes adjacent to the slide. “However, there is no remedy for these homeowners other than suing the developer, the City or the Coastal Commission,” said Martin, who asked that the developer be required to post a bond indemnifying those homeowners for a period of 10 years from the date of the project’s completion. He also asked that the number of units be further reduced to 50, in an attempt to mitigate the traffic impact on Tramonto, Los Liones Drive and Sunset. Castellammare residents have been battling the project since it was proposed by developer Ken Kahan in the fall of 2000. Their concern centers on the advisability of building on the Revello landslide, where a 12-unit apartment building collapsed in 1965. The property, located at 17331-17333 Tramonto, will occupy 3.98 acres of hillside, overlooking Santa Monica Bay, above the Sunset/PCH intersection. The design, which resembles an Italian hillside town, will consist of several buildings built into the bedrock, with parking provided in a subterranean garage. Once the project is approved, the existing structures on the lot will be demolished, including two apartment buildings, requiring the relocation of residents in 20 units. The biggest challenge for the builder is to repair and stabilize the existing landslide, which requires digging down to bedrock and replacing it with compacted fill to support the proposed buildings. The plan also includes embedding soldier piles in the bedrock. While an environmental impact report (EIR) has been done, it in no way negates the risk. “The risk is there whether we do the project or not,” noted Kahan, who believes that building on the hillside “will improve it.” That was also the conclusion of the Ocean Woods Terrace Homeowners Association, which includes 36 condominium owners who reside immediately adjacent to the proposed project. Council member Barbara Kohn, who represents Area 1 (Pacific View Estates, Castellammare, Paseo Miramar), read a letter from the association’s lawyer which stated that having “worked tirelessly” with the developer to preserve their views, they were now in support of the project, which they believe will resolve prior soil and geologic problems and “provide a safer site than what exists today.” Also now in support of the project is Todd Sadow, who along with two of his neighbors, has reached a tentative settlement with Kahan, which they expect to sign this week and which would bring an end to the lawsuit they currently have against the City. “Because of where our homes are we would be the most seriously affected if there is a slide and it is because of the geological concerns that we were originally opposed,” said Sadow, who explained that his group had hired a forensic soils engineer who concluded that there were not enough borings for the depth of the slide, which the developer has now apparently addressed to their satisfaction. “In your agreement, are the homeowners going to absolve the city?” Allen asked Sadow. Before Sadow could respond, Kahan pointed out that while there are still issues to be resolved, he felt the project had already come “a long way” in answering residents’ concerns, “even going so far as to switch architects” to provide greater view protection and, now, “by downsizing the number of units.” Kahan also pointed out that residents could still voice their concerns not only at next week’s Coastal Commission hearing which will focus on environmental protection issues, but also during the building permitting process, during which time specifics regarding the shoring plan and liability will be dealt with. In further trying to appease Council members, Kahan said that since the owners of the new units “can sue us for 10 years after the project is complete, you can be sure we are going to get it right,” and that his company would be adequately insured against any losses. When Kahan, president of California Landmark and principal manager of Palisades Landmark, was asked specifically how much insurance he would have, he responded “at least $10 million.” Alice Beagles, who lives adjacent to the site and is the Palisades Historical Society representative on the council, felt this amount was far too low. “That would be enough for only five to seven homes,” she said, passing around a copy of a photo of the 1965 Revello slide. “This is a picture that haunts me,” said Beagles, pointing to a collapsed apartment building. “Last time there was a slide there was redlining. People couldn’t sell their homes in Castellammare because buyers couldn’t get a mortgage. That went on for a long time.” Paul Glasgall, the council’s Highlands representative, said he was in favor of the Landmark project, considering “that in 40 years the City has done zip about that slide. At least this way we get a nicer view and I think it will improve the area. Hopefully it won’t come down the hill.” (Editor’s note: The Coastal Commission hearing on the Landmark project is scheduled for 10 a.m. on February 8. It will be held at 276 4th Avenue in Chula Vista, south of San Diego.)
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
