Residents affected by the land movement in Rancho Palos Verdes have until Friday to submit an application for the city’s voluntary property buyout program.

Officials announced a $42 million buyout program in late October for residents of neighborhoods like Seaview and Portuguese Bend. The goal is “to acquire as many properties as possible” to “minimize any imminent threats to the property, particularly to structural integrity,” said Ara Mihranian, Rancho Palos Verdes city manager.

How the program works

Through the buyout program, the city and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) will purchase homes with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Housing prices will be determined by their value on December 1, 2022, before land movements accelerate, destabilizing power lines and destroying properties. The city will offer 75% of the property’s value and the house will be converted to open space, with future development limited.

The city had received 57 applications by the end of Wednesday. With this current round of financing, city officials plan to purchase 20 homes.

“Initially, when the dollar amount was made available to the city, your first reaction was that $42 million is a lot of money,” Mihranian said. “If you go back to October or December 2022, before the landslide, the values ​​are probably in a different place than they are now, and maybe a better place, you start to realize that you won’t be able to do not buy several. properties.”

More money in the future for more buyouts

Funds may become available in the future, Mihranian said, to allow more homeowners to participate in buyout programs. The city, he added, has no plans to use eminent domain to take over properties.

“The way FEMA and Cal OES present this is a long-term program,” he said. “So this is one of what we expect to be many cycles in the years to come.”

Each time a disaster is declared by the federal government in California, the state becomes eligible for funds from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funding for the current program comes from a disaster declaration linked to the severe storms that California experienced earlier this year.

In California, Mihranian said, the federal government typically declares at least one disaster each year. With this declaration, local governments receive federal funding to help rebuild.

“We think there might be a statement regarding the wildfires that happened about four or five weeks ago,” he said, referring to the statement. Airport, line and bridge fires which happened in September. If that happens, he said, more funds will be available for another buyout program.

How to submit an application for the buyback program

The application file can be found on the city website: https://www.rpvca.gov/1782/Voluntary-Property-Buyout-Program. Affected residents have until 4:30 p.m. Friday to submit their applications by email to [email protected] or in person at City Hall.

Another resource available to residents

Residents affected by the landslide are also eligible for financial grants of up to $10,000 to be used to purchase generators and batteries, make repairs and repair damage caused by the landslide.

The money can also be used to fund temporary accommodation or storage costs.

Residents will need to submit documentation with their grant application showing expenses incurred. More information can be found here.

The city has already distributed $1.9 million in grants, with funding for the program coming from Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office.

How we got here

Above-average precipitation over the past two winters has accelerated land movement in the historic landslide complex in the city’s Great Portuguese Curve area, upending neighborhoods.

The unstable terrain also caused indefinite power and gas outages to more than 200 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes and the neighboring town of Rolling Hills. The damage prompted some residents to move, while others have installed generators and solar panels to fight to stay.