RPV Land Movement Community Updates, FEMA Rejection Appeal and Council Recap (March 19)

Land Movement

RANCHO PALOS VERDES — The City of Rancho Palos Verdes will receive $2 million from the Los Angeles County Flood Control District to help offset the costs of emergency measures that were put in place to prepare the Portuguese Bend landslide area for the rainy season. On March 18, the Board of Supervisors approved a recommendation (PDF) from L.A. County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella to provide the $2 million in reimbursement for the City’s $4 million winterization efforts, which began last fall to prevent rainwater from infiltrating into the landslide area. This work included filling fissures, lining canyons, installing drainage improvements and repaving vulnerable streets in the Seaview neighborhood. These measures have held up well during recent storms.

The $2 million from the Flood Control District is in addition to $5 million in landslide relief provided by Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office in October 2024. That included $2.2 million for the city to support emergency remediation measures, and $2.8 million for grants of up to $10,000 to deliver immediate aid to residents impacted by land movement and utility shutoffs.

The City thanked Chair Kathryn Barger, Supervisor Hahn, the Board of Supervisors, and director Pestrella for all their support and collaboration helping the city navigate the landslide emergency.

City Appeals FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Rejections

Last week, the city formally appealed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s or FEMA decision to deny $37.9 million in disaster recovery funding requested by the city for costs incurred responding to the landslide emergency due to the winter storms in late January and early February 2024. The city’s seven appeals (PDF) will be considered by FEMA District 9 Administrator Robert Fenton, and his decision is then appealable to FEMA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

FEMA notified the city of its denials in January 2025, as the federal government considers accelerated movement in the city’s landslides a pre-existing issue. In its appeals, the city argued that the unprecedented land movement experienced as a result of the 2024 winter storms was not just a simple expansion of the shallower Portuguese Bend landslide complex, but the activation of the Altamira Landslide, a much larger and deeper landslide that had been dormant prior to the record storms.

The city will provide updates on the appeal process in future newsletters.

March 18, 2025 City Council Meeting Discussion Recap

At last night’s meeting, city geologist Mike Phipps gave an update on land movement, noting that while the deeper slide plane has reached a steady state, shallower points in the Portuguese Bend Landslide that were not the focus of winterization efforts are responding to recent rainfall with an increase in movement. Mr. Phipps is hopeful that 8-10 deep dewatering wells planned by the Abalone Cove Landslide Abatement District or ACLAD will help decelerate the Abalone Cove landslide. So far, two of ACLAD’s wells are operational and three are in progress.

City staff gave an update on a proposed feasibility study exploring whether the city could implement a toll road along Palos Verdes Drive South to generate revenue for landslide roadway management. The council has not discussed or approved a toll road, but previously authorized city staff to explore alternative funding sources for landslide remediation. The idea of a toll road has been suggested to the city by residents over the course of the landslide emergency. City staff has reached out to firms that work on tolling projects for quotes to conduct a feasibility study, and a contract for the study is expected to go before the council in the coming weeks. The study would explore revenue and operational costs, the impacts of diverted traffic, and legal requirements.

To avoid temporarily disconnecting portions of the sewer system in the Portuguese Bend community association and red-tagging additional homes, the council allocated $710,000 needed for repairs through the end of June 2025.

Finally, the council renewed for 60 days the local emergencies in the landslide area and the temporary prohibition of motorcycles and bicycles along a two-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South.