Seaview Landslide Information

The Portuguese Bend landslide has had an on-going impact on the Portuguese Bend area and the Seaview neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes, which is just south of the main landslide area. The areas which have had on-going restrictions on development, additions and remodeling has been given designations such as the “red zone” and the “blue zone”. The “blue zone” refers to an area outlined in blue that designates the landslide moratorium area designated by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in the Seaview neighborhood: The area referred to as the red zone, is a canyon away from the blue zone. The red zone is inside the Portuguese Bend neighborhood (Peppertree, Narcissa, Sweetbay, etc.), and you could not legally build in the majority of the red zone. The canyon between the blue zone and the red zone is called the Klondike Canyon, and people that are in the blue zone belong to an abatement district which makes sure that the canyon doesn’t have future problems due to its proximity to the red zone. In the past, this abatement district has improved drainage and many other projects.

In September 1978, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 108U, which established the Landslide Moratorium Area in and around the Portuguese Bend landslide (described as the area outlined in red in the ordinance). In February 1981, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 139U, which added the area known as Klondike Canyon to the Landslide Moratorium Area (described as the area outlined in blue in the current ordinance). The Blue Area is located on the eastern end of the moratorium area encompassing 36 residential lots in the Seaview tract and a portion of 2 Yacht Harbor Drive

In September 1989, the City Council adopted a more flexible treatment of development proposals in the Blue Area. This action was based on the fact that this area had been subdivided previously and was almost completely developed (only one or two lots were not developed at the time) and included a sewer system, along with a lack of indicators of recent movement in the Blue Area. These factors distinguished this Area from other portions of the Landslide Moratorium Area.

As a result of these actions, the City’s current Landslide Moratorium Ordinance recognizes two separate areas within the overall landslide moratorium area that are subject to differing development criteria . Unlike properties located in the Red Area, owners of properties in the Blue Area are entitled, subject to certain conditions, to seek approval of a landslide moratorium exception permit for “[t]he construction of residential buildings, accessory structures, pools/spas, and grading;.” (Municipal Code Section 15.20.040 K.) The code also requires applicants to submit geological studies reasonably required to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the city geotechnical staff that the proposed project would not aggravate the existing situation. (Id.)

16 property owners in the red zone 2 filed a lawsuit (the Monks case) to overthrow the restrictions of the Landslide moratorium ordinance. Within Zone 2, there were 47 undeveloped lots, of which 16 lots were owned by the plaintiffs in the Monks case .On October 1, 2008, the State Appeals Court reversed a lower court decision and decided that the Land Slide building moratorium ordinance of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes for the Portuguese Bend area constituted an unconstitutional “taking” of property, and that the City should issue building permits to property owners wishing to build homes in the area.

The decision stated “A permanent ban on home construction cannot be based merely on a fear of personal injury or significant property damage,” the jurist concluded, and ordered the case remanded for further proceedings to determine an appropriate remedy.

On October 8th, 2008 the City Council decided to appeal this decision to the State Supreme Court, but on Wednesday December 17th, 2008 the California State Supreme Court denied the City of Rancho Palos Verdes appeal of the Appellate Court’s decision allowing homeowners of the 16 lots in the Portuguese Bend landslide moratorium zones the right to develop their properties. On September 15, 2009, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2009-72, certifying the Revised Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP); and adopted Ordinance Number 498, “An ordinance of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes adopting amendments to chapter 15.20 (moratorium on land use permits) of the Rancho Palos Verdes municipal code to establish an exception category to allow for the future development of the 16 Monks Plaintiffs’ undeveloped lots in zone 2.”

In October 2009, the City commenced the processing of a further revision to the Landslide Moratorium Ordinance to allow for the future development of the remaining 31 undeveloped lots in Zone 2.It was not until December 3, 2019, that the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 631 amending Chapter 15.20 (Moratorium on Land Use Permits) of Title 15 (Buildings and Construction) of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code to amend Exception Category ‘P’ to allow for the future development of 31 undeveloped lots in Zone 2 of the City’s Landslide Moratorium Area.

The revisions to the Landslide Moratorium Ordinance include the revision of subsection P to Section 15.20.040 (Exceptions) to apply to all 47 undeveloped lots in Zone 2. With respect to the EIR assumptions for assessing the potential future impacts of the development of the remaining undeveloped lots, and include the following provisions:

• 47 single-story, ranch-style residences with attached or detached 3-car garages, with minimum living area of 1,500 square feet and maximum living area of 4,000 square feet or 15% of gross lot area, whichever is less;
• Less than 1,000 cubic yards of grading (cut and fill combined) per lot, with no more than 50 cubic yards of imported fill per lot;
• Maximum 25% (RS-1) or 40% (RS-2) net lot coverage;
• Maximum building height of 16 feet for residences and 12 feet for detached accessory structures;
• Minimum front setbacks of 20 feet, minimum rear setbacks of 15 feet, minimum street-side setbacks of 10 feet, and minimum interior side setbacks of 5 feet, with setbacks along private street rights-of-way measured from the easement line rather than the property line; and
• No subdivision of existing lots within Zone 2.

View the aerial photograph depicting the boundary of Zone 2 and the locations of the Monks plaintiffs’ 16 lots and the other 31 undeveloped lots in Zone 2.

If you have any questions about these actions or how they may impact Rancho Palos Verdes homes for sale, please contact the team at Megowan Realty Group.