Rancho Palos Verdes Buyout Program Deadline Nears

Residents affected by the land relocation in Rancho Palos Verdes have until Friday to apply for the city’s voluntary buyback program.

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

How the program works

Under the buyout program, the city and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Management (Cal OES) will purchase homes with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Home prices will be determined based on their value on Dec. 1, 2022, before land movements accelerated, destabilizing power lines and destroying properties. The city will offer 75% of the property price, and the house will be converted into open space with restrictions on further development.

By the end of the day Wednesday, the city had received 57 applications. With the current round of funding, the city plans to buy 20 homes.

“Initially, when the city was given the amount of money, your initial reaction was that $42 million is a lot of money,” Migranian said. “If you go back to October or December 2022, before the crash, the values ​​will probably be in a different place than they are now, and perhaps in a better place, you’ll start to realize that you won’t be able to buy multiple specs.”

More money in the future for more buyouts

Funding may be available in the future to allow more property owners to participate in buyout programs, Migranian said. The city, he added, does not plan to use eminent domain to seize property.

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

Whenever a disaster is declared in California, the state becomes eligible to receive funds through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funding for the current program comes from disaster declaration This is due to the severe storms California experienced earlier this year.

In California, Migranian said, the federal government typically declares at least one disaster each year. Through this declaration, local governments receive federal funding to help with recovery.

“We think the bushfires that occurred about four or five weeks ago may be declared,” he said, referring to Fires at the airport, on the line and on the bridge this happened in September. If that happens, he said, more funds will be available for another buyback program.

How to Apply for the Buyback Program

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

Another resource available to residents

Residents affected by the landslide are also eligible to receive financial grants of up to $10,000 to purchase generators and batteries, repair and repair landslide damage.

The money can also be used to pay for temporary housing or storage costs.

Residents will be required to submit documentation showing expenses incurred along with their grant application. More information can be found Here.

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

How did we get here

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

Unstable ground also caused indefinite power and gas outages to more than 200 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes and the neighboring city of Rolling Hills. The damage forced some residents to flee the city and others installed generators and solar panels in an attempt to survive.