Rancho Palos Verdes announces purchase program for homes affected by land movement

Rancho Palos Verdes city officials announced a $42 million property purchase program for residents affected by the land movement that ripped through neighborhoods like Seaview and Portugal Bend, knocking out power to hundreds of homes in the process.

Through the purchase program, the city and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will purchase homes with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Home prices will be determined by how much they appreciate on December 1, 2022, before land movement accelerates, destabilizing power lines and destroying properties. The city will offer 75% of the property value and the home will be converted into open space and future development will be restricted.

How can you participate in the purchasing program?

If citizens want to benefit from the program, they need to act quickly. Residents have until 5:30 p.m. Nov. 4 to request a voluntary inspection from the city. The deadline for purchasing applications is 8 November at 16.30.

City and Cal OES officials will then make sure the property meets FEMA’s eligibility criteria:

• The home cannot be bank-owned (mortgages do not count as bank ownership) or in foreclosure.
• The property is not sold after December 1, 2022.
• There are no illegal additions or structures on the property.

Financing will be prioritized for properties that meet the following criteria:

• Those that are red or yellow tagged or are in danger of being red or yellow tagged by building inspectors.
• They are powerless indefinitely.
• They are in a position to assist with the city’s temporary measures to slow land movement during the upcoming winter season.

If the application is accepted, the city expects to close within 45 days. Residents who accept the purchases will be required to sign a liability statement and drop all existing legal claims and lawsuits against the city.

The application can be found on the municipality’s website. Here.

Built-in weight gains

Shari Twidwell, who lives with her family in the Portuguese Bend area, said they likely won’t participate in the buyout program.

“Considering the situation and the number of homes, this money seems quite small and I don’t think we will be taken into consideration,” he said, noting that the damage to their homes was not as severe as that of some families. neighbors.

The family added that it would reconsider if the city offered another program in the future.

How did we get here

Above-average precipitation over the past two winters has accelerated land movement in the ancient landslide complex in the Greater Portuguese Bend region. At one point, the land was moving up to 1 foot per week in some areas. City officials have since announced that land movement has slowed to an average of 8 inches per week.

The changing terrain also changed the topography of the area: At the Portuguese Bend Beach Club area, the land jutted out from the ocean approximately 6 feet, creating a new beach.

The unstable terrain also caused indefinite power and gas outages for more than 200 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes and the neighboring city of Rolling Hills. The damage caused some residents to move, while others As they struggled to stay, they installed generators and solar panels.