$97-Million Settlement Over Malibu Slide OKd

Nearly five years after one of the worst landslides in state history damaged more than 200 houses on Malibu’s Big Rock Mesa, area homeowners Thursday gave final approval to a $97-million settlement of lawsuits stemming from the slide.

Attorneys for the homeowners announced that 223 of their 240 clients had approved the settlement, which will pay property owners an average of $300,000 each, minus lawyers’ fees. The agreement, which required approval of 90% of the homeowners by 5 p.m. today, was hammered out last month by attorneys for the homeowners, Los Angeles County, the state Department of Transportation and dozens of insurance companies.

“I’m gratified,” said Richard Norton, one of the homeowners’ attorneys. “It makes me feel good that after all this time we’ve been able to accomplish something for the homeowners. But it hasn’t been a good way to spend half a decade.”

Under the settlement, the county will pay the homeowners $35 million for damage suffered during the landslide, Caltrans will pay $40 million and the insurance companies will pay the remaining $22 million. The state’s portion must still be approved by the Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian.

Although they agreed to pay damages, the settlement states that the defendants are not admitting responsibility for the landslide.

The property owners who sign the settlement waive any future claims against the county, the state and the insurance companies.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge R. William Schoettler Jr. has ordered all of those who did not sign the agreement to come to his chambers this morning and explain why they refused to go along with the pact.

The case brought by the 240 property owners does not affect 16 other homeowners who still are pursuing claims against the county, state and insurance companies.

Several homeowners who attended a Wednesday evening meeting with the judge and their attorneys in Malibu said that they signed the agreement reluctantly.

“It’s just not right that we have to settle for a lot less money than we deserve,” said Libby Sparks. “If our home wasn’t on Big Rock it would be worth about $800,000, but today it’s worth less than half that.

The settlement means that there will be no need for the colossal trial that originally was scheduled to begin in Los Angeles later this month. The proceeding was expected to last two to five years.

Unexpected Deadlock

The settlement appeared in jeopardy as late as last week after meetings between attorneys for the homeowners and Los Angeles County failed to break an unexpected last-minute deadlock over how many homeowners would be required to sign the agreement for it to be approved.

The homeowners had sued the county and the state for more than $200 million in damages for approving development of the Big Rock Mesa area with seepage pits and horizontal drains rather than with sewers. They alleged that the county’s action contributed to a rise in ground water that triggered the September, 1983, landslide.

Buildings Collapsed

The slide caused some homes to collapse. About 30 houses were condemned by the county and the value of the others, many priced at more than $1 million, plummeted.

The county filed more than 300 countersuits against the homeowners, arguing that they were to blame for the disaster because they saturated the hillside with water from their properties.

But after four years of court battles and then facing the possibility of huge damage awards and more than $20 million in legal fees if the case went to trial, the county moved to settle the suits.