SAN DIEGO — In a special meeting Thursday, the City of Carlsbad declared a storm-related emergency for repairs to a slope between El Camino Real and Trieste Drive.
The affected homes that back up to the failing slope have toppling sheds, sunken fence lines, and tarps covering entire backyards.
“I would imagine it’s quite scary, especially if you’ve lived here a while and your backyard starts to give way, not a good feeling,” said Angela Vonebers, a dogwalker for a resident in the neighborhood.
The City has an ongoing capital improvement project to fix the slope, but it’s currently in the design and environmental review phase. The declaration allows the City to expedite emergency repairs.
People living in the affected area on the 4200 block of Trieste Drive say the landslide started in early 2020 and has been getting progressively worse since then. Recent storms compounded the damage, neighbors say. A lawsuit was filed against the City of Carlsbad on behalf of homeowners on eight affected properties. According to attorney Philip Kunka, the trial starts Tuesday.
“These people put their lives and jobs to buy their home, this is their safe space so the City needs to help them,” said neighbor Ceci Anderson.
Total cost estimate for the emergency work, including design and administrative costs, is $1,050,000. The funding for emergency repairs would come from the funds already set aside for the long-term project.
Last week, the Carlsbad City Manager declared another storm-related emergency to speed up the process of clearing out Buena Vista Creek, which overflows and floods the SR-78 freeway during heavy rains.
“When it rains, we stay away from SR-78 because we know there’s a flood and we know it’s not safe,” said Anderson.
It’s not clear when the work will start to clear vegetation and sediment from the storm channel, but it’s estimated to cost nearly $771,000.
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