Via de las Olas Residents Fear Landslides at Bluffs

A group of Via de las Olas residents, fearful of losing their street and their bluff to landslides, prodded the Community Council last Thursday night to ‘advocate on our behalf’ for emergency action by the City of Los Angeles. Led by Bill Moran and Regina McConahay, the residents said that immediate rehabilitation efforts are needed along Via and the bluffs (especially between Via de la Paz and Friends Street), if the city hopes to forestall a landslide disaster similar to the one that engulfed PCH in 1958 just west of the current trouble areas. The residents urged ‘five critical steps to save the bluffs,’ including: 1. Re-engineer, repair and resurface the street. 2. Re-engineer, repair and rebuild the wooden bulkhead near Friends, the sewers and the storm drains. 3. Determine the presence and condition of hydraugers; establish regularly monitored, reported, and certified saturation by inclinometers. 4. Reinstate status of Via de las Olas as an official street warranting repairs and resurfacing. 5. Make this a priority in the city’s budget action plan. Last June, in response to homeowner demands and a request by City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the city’s Geotechnical Engineering Division and Bureau of Street Services submitted a report giving possible methods of repair and projected cost estimates to improve the stability and engineering of the roadway. Total estimated cost: $1,460,000. Following public discussion last Thursday, the Community Council unanimously recommended to Miscikowski’s deputy, Monique Ford, that ‘remedial action be given urgent status requiring imminent attention for funding and corrective action.’ The council also unanimously supported Miscikowski’s proposed action to make Via de las Olas an attendant project of the adjacent Potrero Canyon Restoration Project, which is nearing its final financing stage. The city plans to sell 35 lots along the perimeter of Potrero in order to complete the project and pay back its 20-year ‘investment.’ But Miscikowski reiterated last week that she will bring a motion to City Council to insure that Potrero revenues are also allotted to help shore up Via de las Olas before going to the city’s general fund. After the meeting, McConahay told the Palisadian-Post that while the Community Council’s proclamations were ‘wonderfully supportive, they do not translate into action without immediate funding. I’m scrambling to find other sources of revenue.’