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Red tags expected to be removed from three San Clemente landslide buildings

April 5, 2023

Red tags are expected to be removed in the coming days from three oceanfront apartment buildings in San Clemente, where a landslide in mid March sent debris, parts of concrete patios and furniture down the slope and onto a beach path below, Mayor Chris Duncan said.

Residents and short-term renters of 20 units in four apartment buildings in north San Clemente were swiftly evacuated following the storm damage on March 15 that sent sections of hillside sliding several hundred feet toward the ocean. Duncan said he was told geology reports have deemed three structures safe and residents will be allowed to move back in.

One building remains red tagged, but is in the process of completing the necessary paperwork required by the city, Duncan said.

“We’re very excited,” said Clayton Robinson, owner of one of the buildings with his wife, Kim. The couple, who live in Long Beach, bought their property 20 years ago and use it as their primary income. “We’ve been working with the city all week long, we knew it was coming.”

The sudden scenario of possibly losing their property has been a “nightmare,” but the city has been on top of the process, Clayton Robinson said, while he worked around the clock with geologists to ensure all the paperwork was in place.

“We’re just so thankful it’s progressing in such a way,” he said. “We were afraid we were going to lose everything.”

Buildings along Buena Vista are still red tagged in San Clemente, CA, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The landslide in North San Clemente forced families out of their apartments a few weeks ago. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Insurance typically does not cover landslide damage, so the loss could have been in the millions.

The San Clemente landslide helped spur a federal emergency declaration for Orange County, which should help fund some of the city’s and the county’s response, but financial help has been limited for the residents who needed to suddenly find new temporary housing until the buildings were deemed safe.

The popular beach trail that runs from North Beach along the damaged area, where heaps of dirt still remain, will stay fenced off to the public until it can be cleaned up, Duncan said.

To have the red tags removed, the property owners had to get geology reports done and submitted to the city for review, Duncan said. There will be additional fixes needed to the back patio areas of two of the properties, where pieces of the concrete patio broke off, to ensure the areas are safe, he said, but that can happen later.

Buildings along Buena Vista are still red tagged in San Clemente, CA, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

He called it “really good news for our residents.”

“I am very pleased with the city staff that they’ve been processing these reports submitted by the building owners’ geologists expeditiously,” he said. “Safety comes first, so we will make sure everything is in place.”

Duncan said he has been inspired by how the residents came together to help each other during the past month, even as their lives were disrupted.

“They acted in a very professional and calm manner, despite the seriousness of the situation and tragic nature of being forced out of their homes,” he said. “I hope soon all of them will be able to be back home.”

Robinson said there’s still work to be done in the damaged area – installing a fence and other safety measures – before the units closest to the ocean can be rented out again.

“The geologist assured us it was just the face that fell, but that the hill is stable, the ground is not going anywhere,” he said. “From his perspective, there’s no threat to the property at this point.”

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The pool, which came inches from falling down the slope, is helping to stabilize the area, he said. “The pool, the geologist feels, is working like a retaining wall, holding the rest of it together. He said, ‘Don’t use, don’t fill, don’t empty … leave it alone.’”

Robinson said he plans on working with a geologist, the city and the California Coastal Commission on any possible further steps that could be taken to shore up the property in the long term.

The city will also be asking those questions for the rest of San Clemente’s coastal bluff tops as part of a coastal erosion study currently in the works, Duncan said. “As part of that, I know we want to focus in on the bluff failure and landslides like this as well; it’s all linked. That is something we will be continuing to look at.”

Since the landslide happened a month ago, the Robinsons’ faith has kept them optimistic about the future, Clayton Robinson said.

“We declared our faith on the first day, we trusted the city and the process,” he said. “Our faith has been proven sound and we’re happy and thrilled we got it back. Even if we lost everything, we wouldn’t let it shake our faith.”

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Orange County Register