A slide in 1984 closed the upper portion of the street, blocking easy access to Pacific Coast Highway; the Planning Commission approves permit for reconstruction for a portion of the road.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
More than two decades after a landslide destroyed a portion of the road, the upper portion of Rambla Pacifico Street is going to be repaired. The Planning Commission last week unanimously approved a coastal development permit for the reconstruction of 2,500-foot portion of the road that will connect to a public part of a private road called Pop’s Pass, which residents can then follow down to Las Flores Canyon Road to reach Pacific Coast Highway.
The project will consist of both a public and private section of Rambla Pacifico, most of it being private because the portion of the road over the slide cannot be built to safety standards required by the city for a public road.
Residents of the area are paying for the project. Fifty-seven property owners who have signed on to the project will pay approximately $20,000 each for the new road. Rambla Pacifico resident David Kagon said he expects more people to join the group.
Currently, residents living in the upper portion of Rambla Pacifico must take a 15- to 20-minute journey of twists and turns to reach their homes from Pacific Coast Highway, whereas before the slide closed the street it took only three to four minutes to reach the highway. The residents must drive more than five miles up Las Flores Canyon Road to Hume Drive, then backtrack to the southwest uphill and drive down to their now-disconnected portion of the street. Residents have complained about the danger this creates for emergency vehicles and in the case of a fire.
There have been various reasons for the delay in repairing the road, including litigation. The final block to a solution was overcome when it was determined how to design the project to avoid encroaching on the private portion of Pop’s Pass, since owner Guy Poulin refused to give up a public right-of-way.
“I am told that patience is a virtue,” Kagon said at the meeting. “And they [residents] have had 22 years of patience. And that [places them in the category] of being most virtuous.”
Two gates will enclose the private portion of the road; residents who paid to have the road repaired and emergency personnel will have keys to the gates, and the gates will be open to anyone during an emergency. The road will also include two Fire Department turnarounds, a drainage system, and a new culvert will be installed at the entrance of the road off Las Flores Canyon.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in April, after the rainy season.
During the Dec. 5 meeting, Planning Commissioner Regan Schaar said she believed the city should help out with the cost of the project. Kagon said that is something the residents will be looking into in the future. However, he said in an interview this week, that request is not on the horizon. The property owners are deciding on what the possibilities are for the city to help.
Mayor Ken Kearsley said in an interview this week that he supports the project, but he did not know if it was legally possible for the city to financially support it because the road is private.
“I’m not opposed to putting up money to help with the health and safety of the citizens,” Kearsley said. “But how it is done and what can legally be done needs to be determined.”