Rancho Palos Verdes has advanced plans to permanently ban new construction on 715 acres of land, which has been plagued by dramatic and destructive landslide movements over the past two years.
City councillors unanimously voted to ban almost all new developments, including adding homes, across the landslide zone, which includes around 400 homes in three neighborhoods and 130 vacant privately owned lots.
However, changes to city building standards will allow repairs, restoration efforts and even replacements of existing homes, as long as the update does not exceed the original home’s area. It also provides a way for landowners to apply for exceptions.
Tuesday’s vote is the first step in a permanent suspension since the land movement accelerated dramatically almost two years ago. Changes will only be made after final approval later this month. However, it appears likely that it will come into effect by the end of September thanks to overwhelming support from city leaders.
Despite well-documented issues from landslides since October 2023, the move has faced opposition, particularly from homeowners who have recently lived in stable areas. Criticism and concerns also come from landowners sitting in undeveloped lots and homeowners who have recently been included in designated landslide zones. The designation came after geologists confirmed that recent movements had expanded historical boundaries of the past.
But many other homeowners said they support the ban.
City officials said the change was about safety and pointed to the past two years of an unprecedented landslide movement. This movement has destroyed homes, distorted some roads, and cut off hundreds of electricity and gas services. The area has long been known for its repeated issues from the ancient landslide complex that reappeared in the 1950s, but the proportion and magnitude of the movement since October 2023 has never been recorded.
“We are very sensitive about the land and the people that are included in it. [prohibition] Zone,” Mayor Protem Soye said at a city council meeting Tuesday. “…but it is the public safety and happiness of the people on the land.”
The city had enacted a similar development ban on landslide zones decades ago, but has been repeatedly undermined by lawsuits and exceptions. City leaders on Tuesday said some of the homes damaged by the recent movement were among the groups that fought against the first construction ban, and gained approval to build them in the landslide zone through lawsuits in the early 2000s. City officials said at least five people have applied for a federal acquisition.
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