New homes for slide families

Suzie Harrison

Two and a half months after losing their homes in the Bluebird Canyon

landslide, four families have found free long-term transitional

housing in the city, thanks to the efforts of city and state

officials and private donors.

The families will be living in four mobile homes -- including

three double-wides -- on donated land at Canyon Acres Drive.

Tuesday afternoon the families met with Mayor Elizabeth

Pearson-Schneider and planning commission chairwoman Anne Johnson at

El Morro Village to select their trailers.

“Elizabeth had a list of addresses kind of preselected and

narrowed down,” said Diane Stevens, whose Flamingo Road home was

destroyed. “We went through each one and found something that would

work for each of us.”

She said it was better than she expected.

“It’s a great opportunity. The dust has settled; it’s been a

couple of months,” Stevens said. “We’re ready to settle somewhere,

save money and have the opportunity to rebuild. We’re thrilled with

the opportunity with the trailer. I don’t know if we could have

reached our goal without this happening.”

The families were offered free housing for up to 18 months.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place Wednesday when the

planning commission approved placement of the mobile homes on Phyllis

Kern Phillip’s Canyon Acres parcel.

“I was relieved when it was approved, but I was not anticipating a

fight; it’s a good idea,” Stevens said. “An awful lot of people are

working on behalf of our families; it’s a great feeling of support.”

She said her family isn’t getting any assistance from the

government or from insurance.

“Without family, friends and all the people working on our behalf

-- it’s the only way we’re able to get into a house,” Stevens said.

“I don’t know if it would happen in any other town. I’m very thankful

and want to get that message out.”

Diane and her husband, John, have two children -- Hayley, 14, and

Luc, 11 -- who attend Laguna Beach schools.

The emergency housing was coordinated by the

Adopt-a-Landslide-Family committee and was made possible by various

donors, including the Laguna Beach Board of Realtors.

The other recipient families are Jill and Bobby Lockhart and their

two sons, Trey, 4, and Tyson, 2; Steve Howard and his daughter

Brianna; and James Moore and his partner John Gustafson.

Originally, the Lockhart family -- “adopted” by architect Morris

Skendarian and his associates -- was the only family intended for the

Canyon Acres site.

But the idea was taken up by Pearson-Schneider, who has been

working tirelessly to assist the displaced families.

“I just took the idea a step further by asking, ‘How many trailers

could we actually fit on that lot?’” Pearson-Schnieder aid.

After receiving a yes answer from City Manager Ken Frank that it

would be possible to use the city’s emergency powers under a disaster

to obtain a temporary use permit for the site, the mayor and her

committee began searching for appropriate trailers.

The first place they looked was El Morro Village because they knew

that the state now owned 20 abandoned trailers there.

The mayor said that’s when Frank offered to call his acquaintances

at the state parks department to pursue the idea of donating the

trailers.

The City Council agreed to seek the trailers through a government

surplus-property plan.

With that accomplished, the work of selecting appropriate trailers

began.

“They were great,” Pearson-Schneider said. “They [state parks

officials] allowed the city manager, Morris Skenderian and me to look

at the abandoned trailers to identify those that appeared the most

livable. We needed three double-wides -- for three families with kids

-- and one single.”

They narrowed it down to six trailers for the families to look at.

The city manager then obtained estimates to disconnect, break in

half, move, reassemble and mount the trailers on raised platforms,

because the lot -- which is zoned for multiple-residential use -- is

in a flood plain. Estimates also included sewer, water and electrical

connection costs. All the costs totaled approximately $75,000.

“This number was quite daunting to me,” said Pearson-Schneider. “I

knew we had $10,000 that had been donated from David and Holly

Wilson, who had said they would like to help several families, if

possible, with this donation.”

The mayor knew that they would probably raise $20,000 from the MTV

fundraiser planned for August 11 because the door receipts were being

dedicated to two of the families who would benefit from the trailer

program.

But, still, they would be short by $45,000.

“I called Michael Gosselin and asked him if the Board of Realtors

had decided how they were going to use the funds they’d raised,”

Pearson-Schneider said.

Gosselin invited the mayor to speak to the charitable assistance

fund committee to give them an update on the landslide and the

families.

“Their hearts opened and they voted unanimously to help these

families with school-age children with all that they had raised --

exactly $45,000,” said Pearson-Schneider.

They are hoping to move the trailers to the site within the next

few weeks, Johnson said.

“Then we’ll need people to help with painting, plumbing, some

carpentry and some carpet installation,” Johnson said. “In addition,

we’ll need some appliances, fixtures, carpeting and furniture. We

think the entire community will chip in and help get the trailers in

tip-top shape so these folks will have a place to live.”

The mayor said she hopes to get the families settled into their

new homes within the first two weeks of September, hopefully in time

for the start of school.