Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Big Mt. Soledad project nears completion

Come for the view, stay for the slide in La Jolla

Looks like concrete but it's gravel — down the hill from Desert View Drive
Looks like concrete but it's gravel — down the hill from Desert View Drive

Eight years after a landslide in the Mt. Soledad area destroyed nine homes and damaged dozens of others, the city is replacing a storm drain that stopped a third of the way down the steep, unstable slope.

Bill Harris, spokesman for the city's Stormwater Division, confirmed that heavy construction on the eastern slope from Desert View Drive down to the I-5 is being done by the city to replace 230 feet of drain pipe with 730 feet that will take the water down to the bottom of the hill.

"We are stabilizing the street and the hillside," Harris said. "It's a big project that has been a long time coming."

Work began in July, with the contractor's crew digging up the old drainage pipe and replacing it. Drainage-eroded areas are being filled in with gravel (it looks like concrete) and finishing off the $5 million job with plants to keep the soil stable.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Once the construction is finished, we're going to restore the hillside with native plants," Harris said. "We're going to button it all up and resurface the street." The project should be finished in January, he said.

If you stand at the driveway entrance to Costco on Morena Boulevard, you can get a good look at the entire project. Desert View has a history of devastating slides caused by water leaks, its location near the Rose Canyon Fault, and a host of other factors that have been argued in many forums.

In October of 2007, a big chunk of the slope slid and rendered nine homes uninhabitable; as many as 52 homes needed repairs ranging from minor to major. Residents had started noticing land movement in July of that year and had been reporting to the city as the street cracked and their homes tilted downward.

About 65 homeowners sued the city and lost at trial in 2009. They fought the verdict and eventually settled with the city for $284,000 in 2010. The whole thing became part of a course curriculum for a 101-level class called “Science and the Public Good” at California State University Sacramento.

According to the La Jolla Light, the area has a history of slope instability.

"A landslide that destroyed seven homes under construction occurred in December of 1961. In 1989, a landslide occurred on the 5600 block of Desert View Drive, and in 1994 a landslide affected the canyon below the 5800 block."

Residents on the east side of the I-5 report being awakened by noises during night work. Harris confirmed that there were deliveries being made at night, though he said no work was being done.

Our tipster, on the east side, begs to differ, saying there's been midnight construction to shore up the hill and the city is staving off lawsuits from people who shouldn't live on unstable ground to begin with.

“We're looking at a giant construction effort meant to prevent homeowners who built their homes on crumbling sandstone cliffs from suing the city again when their houses slide down the hill. Again," our tipster wrote.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

Looks like concrete but it's gravel — down the hill from Desert View Drive
Looks like concrete but it's gravel — down the hill from Desert View Drive

Eight years after a landslide in the Mt. Soledad area destroyed nine homes and damaged dozens of others, the city is replacing a storm drain that stopped a third of the way down the steep, unstable slope.

Bill Harris, spokesman for the city's Stormwater Division, confirmed that heavy construction on the eastern slope from Desert View Drive down to the I-5 is being done by the city to replace 230 feet of drain pipe with 730 feet that will take the water down to the bottom of the hill.

"We are stabilizing the street and the hillside," Harris said. "It's a big project that has been a long time coming."

Work began in July, with the contractor's crew digging up the old drainage pipe and replacing it. Drainage-eroded areas are being filled in with gravel (it looks like concrete) and finishing off the $5 million job with plants to keep the soil stable.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Once the construction is finished, we're going to restore the hillside with native plants," Harris said. "We're going to button it all up and resurface the street." The project should be finished in January, he said.

If you stand at the driveway entrance to Costco on Morena Boulevard, you can get a good look at the entire project. Desert View has a history of devastating slides caused by water leaks, its location near the Rose Canyon Fault, and a host of other factors that have been argued in many forums.

In October of 2007, a big chunk of the slope slid and rendered nine homes uninhabitable; as many as 52 homes needed repairs ranging from minor to major. Residents had started noticing land movement in July of that year and had been reporting to the city as the street cracked and their homes tilted downward.

About 65 homeowners sued the city and lost at trial in 2009. They fought the verdict and eventually settled with the city for $284,000 in 2010. The whole thing became part of a course curriculum for a 101-level class called “Science and the Public Good” at California State University Sacramento.

According to the La Jolla Light, the area has a history of slope instability.

"A landslide that destroyed seven homes under construction occurred in December of 1961. In 1989, a landslide occurred on the 5600 block of Desert View Drive, and in 1994 a landslide affected the canyon below the 5800 block."

Residents on the east side of the I-5 report being awakened by noises during night work. Harris confirmed that there were deliveries being made at night, though he said no work was being done.

Our tipster, on the east side, begs to differ, saying there's been midnight construction to shore up the hill and the city is staving off lawsuits from people who shouldn't live on unstable ground to begin with.

“We're looking at a giant construction effort meant to prevent homeowners who built their homes on crumbling sandstone cliffs from suing the city again when their houses slide down the hill. Again," our tipster wrote.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Next Article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader