Via Residents Fear Latest Slide

Neighbors first noticed a new slump along the Via de las Olas bluffs between Friends and Lombard streets over two weeks ago. The approximately 50-foot-long fissure appeared after the heavy rains, forcing the hillside to drop two feet. Slippage has been occurring ever since. ‘My neighbors and I immediately reported it to the City,’ said Regina McConahay, who lives across the street from the slide. ‘There is a critical need for Public Works and possibly other agencies to secure this area before there’s loss of life or property. People walk their dogs and children here, they have picnics here and in my opinion it is very dangerous, even though the City says it is not.’ Craig Kunesh, one of the Department of Public Works geological engineers who inspected the site last week, said that the slide does not present any immediate danger to the street or the private residences across the street, some 300 feet away. He also said that as with any other slide area, his department will do routine monitoring and maintenance of the site, which is located just 15 feet away from the dirt walking path that runs the length of Via. This does not satisfy McConahay, who has lived on the bluffs since 1998. ‘What do they mean by monitoring and maintenance? No one seems to know. We’ve been asking the City for years to do something about stabilizing this hillside and they haven’t. You just have to look at the fissure to know how dangerous it is. It’s only a question of time before there’s an accident. It’s scary.’ Bill Eisner, who regularly strolls the bluffs, feels the same way. ‘We’ve been watching this hillside erode over the years,’ Eisner said. ‘I expect the next heavy rain will take out another chunk.’