Local News in Brief : Panel Rebuffs Residents’ Appeal

An attempt by Rancho Palos Verdes residents to halt relocation of Palos Verdes Drive South in the Portuguese Bend landslide area has been rebuffed by the California Coastal Commission.

In rejecting an appeal by residents near the road, the commission said there were no coastal issues on which to rule and concluded that the city has properly obtained permits for the project, according to Wayne Woodroof, assistant director of the commission’s South Coast District.

Residents asserted that relocation of the half-mile of road to its original right of way could reactivate the slide and damage an historic villa built during the 1920s. The city says the slide has slowed substantially since the start of a municipal stabilization project.

The road, which has had to be repaired repeatedly because of land movement, has moved seaward during the three decades that the landslide has existed. By moving the road to more stable ground, officials said the city hopes to reduce maintenance costs--which have run to $250,000 a year--to less than $30,000.