300 Feet of Cliff Plunges Into Ocean in Palos Verdes Estates

Thanks to a cliff-side slide, some Palos Verdes Estates residents on Friday had better views but also more worries about possible dangers ahead.

A 300-foot stretch along the 2900 block of Paseo del Mar slid into the ocean Thursday morning, bringing the land’s edge about 60 feet closer to a few multimillion-dollar homes. No one was injured.

“I probably have 25% more ocean view, and it’s gorgeous as long as it stays right where it is. If it keeps coming, I’m in trouble,” Bill Ward said Friday. His house faces the slide area from across the roadway.

Geologists predicted the fall, and Palos Verdes Estates officials have been aware of possible movement of the city-owned land there.

“The failure occurred almost exactly where it had been mapped,” said Allan Rigg, who is Palos Verdes Estates’ director of public works and the city engineer.

Officials noticed the cracking last week, and that block of Paseo del Mar was coned off and monitored. On Thursday morning, some areas fell about 200 feet into the ocean.

“It was a very large failure compared to what we had experienced previously in that area,” Rigg said.

Another neighbor, Lisa Nolski, said it made her feel unstable to see a road curb one day and then notice it was gone the next day.

“It’s a shock that it happened as quickly as it had. There had been some minor movement [when] we were walking out there a week ago,” Nolski said.

The slide comes almost two years since another slide on the peninsula, one that took out the 18th hole at the Ocean Trails Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Rigg said officials have been monitoring points on the other side of the street from the slip, adjacent to homes. So far, they have been stable and no movement is anticipated, he said.

“Some of the neighbors were happy,” Rigg said. “The [Paseo del Mar] street is indefinitely shut down, [and] some of their views have gotten better because they can see more ocean.”