DISCLAIMER

The following City Council agenda includes text only version of the staff reports associated with the business matters to be brought before for the City Council at its Regular Meeting of this date. Changes to the staff reports may be necessary prior to the actual City Council meeting. The City Council may elect to delete or continue business matters at the beginning of the City Council Meeting. Additionally, staff reports attachments, including but not limited to, pictures, plans, drawings, spreadsheet presentations, financial statements and correspondences are not included. The attachments are available for review with the official agenda package at the Reception area at City Hall.

...end of disclaimer...

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This agenda has been prepared to provide for the orderly progression of City business. Detailed staff reports on specific items are posted in the hallway for public viewing. The City Council wants to hear your comments, however, to run the meeting efficiently, please observe the following rules when you participate in the meeting.

Please try to submit your REQUEST TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL form to the City Clerk prior to the start of the meeting. You will be called at the appropriate time to make your remarks.

For the sake of efficiency, the City Council agenda is divided into several sections:

Consent Calendar: This section consists of routine items which, unless a request has been received from the public, council or staff to remove a particular item for discussion, are enacted by one motion of the City Council. If you wish to speak to any Consent Calendar item(s) you will be limited to three minutes.

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Please make your remarks at the lectern microphone and direct your comments to the City Council and not to the staff or the public.

Conduct at the Council Meeting: The City Council has adopted a set of rules for conduct during City Council meetings. The following is an excerpt from those adopted Rules of Procedure:

Section 6.3 The Mayor shall order removed from the Council Chambers any person(s) who commits the following acts at a regular or special meeting of the City Council:

1. Disorderly, contemptuous or insolent behavior toward the Council or any member thereof, tending to interrupt the due and orderly course of said meeting.

2. A breach of the peace, boisterous conduct or violent disturbance, tending to interrupt the due and orderly course of said meeting.

3. Disobedience of any lawful order of the Mayor which shall include an order to be seated or to refrain from addressing the Council.

4. Any other unlawful interference with the due and orderly course of the meeting.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL

ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING

(PLEASE SEE BROWN ACT CHECKLIST BELOW FOR DETAILS).

Recommendation:

A. Accept the conclusions of the Cotton, Shires & Associates, January 14, 2002 Technical Review that:

1.There is insufficient subsurface information to properly characterize either the depth to the base of landsliding, strength properties of the landslide materials, or the groundwater levels. Without these data, no accurate slope stability analysis can be undertaken, no reliable factor of safety can be calculated and no dependable landslide mitigation scheme can be designed.

2. One cannot quantitatively determine the factor of safety and, therefore cannot judge the level of risk of development in the prehistoric landslide area.

3. The factor of safety of the landslide mass that underlies Zone 2 is above 1.00, but likely less than the industry’s standard safety threshold of 1.50.

B. Continue to deny requests for development permits for new homes in the Zone 2 area of the Portuguese Bend landslide based on the current lack of evidence that the subject land has a factor of safety of 1.5 or greater, unless an applicant submits a complete Landslide Moratorium Exclusion application that is supported by adequate geologic data.

TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS

FROM: CITY MANAGER

Accept the conclusions of the Cotton, Shires & Associates, January 14, 2002 Technical Review that:

1. There is insufficient subsurface information to properly characterize either the depth to the base of landsliding, strength properties of the landslide materials, or the groundwater levels. Without these data, no accurate slope stability analysis can be undertaken, no reliable factor of safety can be calculated and no dependable landslide mitigation scheme can be designed.
   
   
2. One cannot quantitatively determine the factor of safety and, therefore cannot judge the level of risk of development in the prehistoric landslide area.
   
   
3. The factor of safety of the landslide mass that underlies Zone 2 is above 1.00, but likely less than the industry’s standard safety threshold of 1.50.

Continue to deny requests for development permits for new homes in the Zone 2 area of the Portuguese Bend landslide based on the current lack of evidence that the subject land has a factor of safety of 1.5 or greater, unless an applicant submits a complete Landslide Moratorium Exclusion application that is supported by adequate geologic data.

At their October 16, 2001 City Council meeting the Council postponed a previously scheduled adjourned meeting set for October 30, 2001 at which time they had planned to consider the September 12, 2001 Zone 2 Technical Review

by Cotton, Shires & Associates. The reasons for the postponement were as follows:

1. On Thursday, October 11, 2001 the City received a letter and a lengthy geologist’s opinion on the Zone 2 issues from Perona Langer Beck and Lallande (attorneys for the original Horan litigants). PLB&L have engaged the services of Dr. David Cummings, who was a member of the original Panel of Experts, to comment on the Zone 2 issues.

2. Mr. Bill Griffin advised staff that he (and others?) had hired Dr. Karl Vonder Linden (a Bay area geologist) to comment on the Zone 2 matter. The Vonder Linden comments were not expected to be available until shortly before the October 30th meeting (not enough time to be incorporated into the Cotton, Shires report).
3. The Peer Group consultants had not yet submitted their comments on the Cotton, Shires & Associates September 12, 2001 draft report.

The Council agreed that the meeting would be re-scheduled at such time as our consultant, Cotton, Shires & Associates, advised us the report and responses to comments were complete.

At their April 17, 2001 meeting the City Council took the following action:

(1) Approved a Professional Services Agreement with Cotton, Shires and Associates to review existing geologic and geotechnical documents to determine whether the data are sufficient to allow building on vacant lots in Zone 2 if the local factor of safely calculated for the lot is 1.5 or greater; (2) Authorized the expenditure of up to $30,000 for the Cotton, Shires contract from Building and Safety Account 402.35 Technical and Professional Services; and (3) Formed a Peer Review Committee consisting of three independent geologists to review and comment on the findings of Cotton, Shires & Associates.

At their October 16, 2001 meeting the City Council took the following additional action:

Amend the Professional Services Agreement with Cotton, Shires and Associates for the review of existing geologic and geotechnical documents related to Zone 2 to authorize the expenditure of an additional $15,000 from Building and Safety Account 402.35 Technical and Professional Services.

Since October 16, 2001 Cotton, Shires & Associates have completed work on the final draft of a Technical Review of Geologic/Geotechnical Data for the Abalone

Cove Landslide and Zone 2 Areas. Copies of the Report are available both on the City website and in hard copy from City Hall.

The January 14, 2002 Cotton, Shires & Associates Technical Review consists of a fourteen page narrative of their findings and conclusions and eight appendices.

Appendix A of the Report includes the references considered by Cotton, Shires & Associates in performing their review. Note that Dr. Perry Ehlig’s files were reviewed in their entirety.

Appendix B of the Report is a summary of all the "borehole" data developed over the years by various geotechnical firms working in the vicinity of Zone 2.

Appendix C is a copy of the proposal for Geotechnical Services submitted by Cotton, Shires & Associates describing the work performed in the Zone 2 geotechnical review.

Appendix D is the City Council staff report approving the Professional Services Agreement with Cotton, Shires & Associates.

Appendix E is a copy of the May 26, 1993 memorandum from Perry Ehlig, subject: "Suggested Guidelines for Permitting Development in the Moratorium Area."

Appendix F of the Report includes the significant correspondence (as determined by Cotton, Shires & Associates) received by interested parties including geologists and local residents. Included is the October 11, 2001 letter and a lengthy geologist’s opinion on the Zone 2 issues from Perona Langer Beck and Lallande (attorneys for the original Horan litigants).

The City Council, last Spring, formed a Zone 2 Geology Committee made up of geologists from Cotton, Shires & Associates and Keith Ehlert, Monte Ray and Dr. Kim Bishop (the Peer Review Geologists). This group of geologists met four times last year, in public sessions, to discuss Zone 2 issues and share information. Minutes of those meetings are attached. On October 17, 2001, two of the Peer Review Geologists (Ehlert did not participate) submitted comments on the Cotton, Shires draft report dated September 12, 2001. Those comments have been addressed in Appendix G of the January 14, 2002 Report.

Appendix H of the January 14, 2002 Report is a response to questions on the September 12, 2001 draft report raised by Mayor Pro Tem Stern.

1. Direct staff to prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) to qualified geotechnical firms for the development of additional data required (including the investigations outlined in the "Recommendations" section of the Cotton, Shires & Associates’ Technical Review Report) to try to determine (a) the potential for movement of the ancient landslide, (b) the advisability of allowing additional development in Zone 2, and (c) the design of a dependable landslide mitigation scheme. Authorize the expenditure of up to $500,000 to perform this work.
2. Advise the Zone 2 property owners to circulate a petition among all of the the owners of property within that area to determine if the owners would be willing to have an assessment district formed by the City so that assessments would be levied against their properties to pay for the cost of performing the additional geologic studies to determine the stability of the area underlying Zone 2. Since there are 49 vacant parcels in the Zone 2 area, staff estimates that the amount of such an assessment is likely to be at least $10,000 per parcel.

Respectfully submitted,
Les Evans, City Manager

Attachments:

1. Technical Review, Geologic/Geotechnical Data, Abalone Cove Landslide and Zone 2 Areas. Cotton, Shires & Associates, Inc. January 2002.
   
   
2. Miscellaneous Correspondence
   
   
3. City Council Staff Reports and Minutes for

   March 6, 2001
   April 17, 2001
   September 18, 2001
   February 19, 2002

4. Zone 2 Advisory Committee Minutes

   May 8, 2001
   August 7, 2001
   August 14, 2001
   September 18, 2001

5. Zone 2 Property Information

Based on Government Code Section 54954.5
(All Statutory References are to California Government Code Sections)

The City Council/Agency finds, based on advice from legal counsel, that discussion in open session will prejudice the position of the local agency in the litigation.

Anticipated Litigation:
(G.C 54956.9(b)

Based on the below-described existing facts and circumstances, the City Council/Agency is meeting only to decide whether a closed session is authorized.

_____________1_____________
(Number of Potential Cases)

(E) Letter written by John Monks dated February 6, 2001 sent to Mayor Marilyn Lyon regarding Landslide Moratorium Zone 2, a copy of which is available for public inspection in the City Clerk's office.