Slide on Oriole Drive forces an evacuation

City crews were called out Sunday when the steep slope on Oriole

Drive slipped. Three homes were ordered evacuated.

The slide was said to be unrelated to the nearby June 1 slide that

damaged 22 homes, at least 11 of them irreparably.

“This illustrated the need to get that hillside stable as soon as

possible,” said Bob Burnham, community recovery coordinator. “We had

already decided to reduce the steepness of that slope. Sunday’s slide

just accelerated it.”

None of the three homes ordered evacuated Sunday was damaged. Two

of the property owners were allowed to go home on Monday. The third

home was unoccupied.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein will visit Bluebird Canyon on

Tuesday at the invitation of Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider.

“Dianne wants to help us, and we are going all out to get her

help,” Pearson-Schneider said.

City officials are hoping that Feinstein can exert some influence

on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which declined to help

fund landslide repairs.

The costs of temporary and permanent repairs to the slide area are

estimated to total at least $15 million -- a price that is taking a

toll on city projects and personnel.

The installation of caissons to shore up the slide area was

scheduled to begin this week. Installation of a storm drain to

prevent water from damming in the canyon continues.

All damaged homes and detritus must be removed from the slope

before winterization projects can be completed.

The city will pay for the demolition and cleanup for all

properties in return for owners’ agreements not to sue the city. The

owner of the property at 1060 Flamingo Drive has declined to sign the

agreement as of Tuesday.

Demolition of that home will proceed under the council’s

declaration of the property as a public nuisance. If the property

owner does not accept the city’s offer, the cost of the demolition

will be put on the property’s tax bill as a lien.