City Requests Rep. Lieu Explore NDAA for Potential Land Transfer
The city and Wayfarers Chapel continue to work to identify potential pathways to reconstruct the landslide-damaged National Historic Landmark to an ideal site near the Ken Dyda Civic Center. As part of these efforts, last week, the city submitted a request to the office of Rep. Ted Lieu for his staff to explore the feasibility of transferring the Coast Guard-owned Battery Barnes property adjacent to the Civic Center to the city by securing language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This was done successfully in late 2024 by Rep. Lieu and Rep. Nanette Barragán for the cities of Los Angeles and Lomita to enable them to take ownership of ball fields at the Navy’s Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) on Western Avenue. This strategy of transferring federal land via an act of Congress was pursued due to a change in Department of Defense policy that would have resulted in charging youth sports organizations fair-market user fees. While talks of potentially using the NDAA for the relocation of Wayfarers Chapel to the Battery Barnes site are preliminary and informal at this point, the city is hopeful that its federal representatives will help to explore every avenue to potentially bringing Wayfarers to Battery Barnes, so it can remain in its historic community in perpetuity as a historic landmark, educational site, and community gathering space.
In May, the City and Wayfarers sent a joint letter to Rep. Lieu additionally requesting assistance in securing federal discretionary funding in the range of $25-30 million to help rebuild the chapel and establish the envisioned public campus.
AB 986 Headed to State Senate
AB 986, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s landslide legislation, is headed to the State Senate after passing the Assembly floor on June 3, 2025. On June 18, the bill was referred to the Senate governmental organization committee. AB 986 would amend the California Emergency Services Act to include landslides as a natural disaster that may be eligible for disaster assistance, giving affected communities, such as Rancho Palos Verdes, a clearer path to declare emergencies and take action to protect public safety and infrastructure. The City is a co-sponsor of AB 986, and Mayor Dave Bradley and City Manager Ara Mihranian testified in support of the bill at an Assembly Emergency Management Committee meeting in April. The City thanks Assemblymember Muratsuchi for his continued leadership and advocacy on this issue.
July 1, City Council Meeting Announcements
On July 1, the RPV city council will receive an update on the landslide emergency, the latest land movement data, and the city’s remediation efforts.
Current Conditions
Between April 5 and June 3, the average land movement rates decelerated considerably, continuing the downward trend of movement over the past four months. This is believed to be largely due to significantly below-average rainfall through mid-June, the positive effects of the major winterization efforts and the ongoing dewatering efforts by the city and abatement districts.
PVDS Toll Road Study
Following previous direction from the city council, staff continues to analyze the possibility of converting a portion of Palos Verdes Drive South through the landslide into a toll road. Staff has reached out to firms for proposals to assess the feasibility of this project and will present a proposed contract of a toll road feasibility study for the city council’s consideration at its July 15 meeting.
FY 2025-26 Budget
On June 17, the city council adopted the fiscal year 2025-26 budget that includes $17.75 million for landslide mitigation and remediation projects. Of this amount, almost $13.7 million is funded by the CIP funds and $4 million is from Special Revenue (Restricted) funds.
Grant Update
Cal OES recently notified the city that it is eligible to apply for a FEMA hazard mitigation grant for the Portuguese Bend landslide remediation project, covering a similar scope of work as planned under the discontinued BRIC grant. The city will move forward with a grant application for submission to Cal OES by September 15, 2025.
Finally, the council will consider extending by 60 days the local emergency declarations in the landslide area and the temporary prohibition of bicycles, motorcycles, and other similar wheeled vehicles from an approximately 2-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South.
A staff report (PDF) with more information is available on the city website at:: https://tinyurl.com/RPV-city-council-report
Meeting Info:
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m., July 1, in McTaggart Hall at Hesse Park and via Zoom. Watch live on RPVtv’s YouTube channel, at rpvca.gov, or on Cox 33/FiOS 38. To participate in public comment during the meeting, complete a form online at rpvca.gov/participate to participate in person, virtually, or leave a pre-recorded voice message. Email your comments on this topic to cc@rpvca.gov.