City will look into stabilizing canyon

June Casagrande

Residents around Morning Canyon should pay a portion of the $2

million needed to stop the erosion and slope failure threatening

their homes, some City Council members have said.

The council on Tuesday approved a $250,000 contract with RBF

Engineering to study what work needs to be done to the deteriorating

canyon that stretches from Pelican Hills Golf Course to the ocean.

But the assumption that the city should foot the bill for the

work, estimated at about $2 million, was called into question.

“If we don’t own the land and we didn’t cause the damage, then why

are we expected to pay for it?” Councilman Steve Rosansky asked.

It wasn’t a rhetorical question; it was a practical one. And City

Atty. Bob Burnham offered a highly practical answer.

“It’s my sense that we could be named in a lawsuit if one were

filed,” Burnham said.

In 1995, one landowner there sued another after a landslide in his

backyard damaged his patio and pool. The suit alleged that

construction upstream had affected the flow of water through the

canyon in a way that caused erosion to the slope.

Residents of the 22 homes in Cameo Highlands and Corona Highlands

that line Morning Canyon have told the city they would support

allowing the city to go in and do the work. Their permission is

required because the canyon is private property, owned by homeowners,

with very little access except through people’s lawns.

“The erosion problems in Morning Canyon directly impact my

property and that of my neighbors,” said Bob Patterson, who was

reading a letter attributed to his elderly mother, whose home on

Rockford Road backs up to the canyon. “Morning Canyon is a ticking

time bomb of declining property values and potential lawsuits.”

Council members worry that support for the work may evaporate when

and if they start asking homeowners to chip in.

Council members who voted for the engineering study on Tuesday

have asked staff members to come up with ways that the city can share

the cost of the work with the residents, including possibly creating

an assessment district.

“I think we need to figure out what the problem is and what needs

to be done about it and figure out who pays for it later,” Councilman

Gary Adams said.

Colleagues agreed, voting unanimously to move forward.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.