Dana Point Landslide Leaves Mansion Precariously Perched On Cliff’s Edge

A landslide in Dana Point last week has created a nail biter of a scene: A mansion now perched on the edge of a weakened cliffside that appears to be a hair away from falling into the ocean.

But officials say the crumbled cliffside off Scenic Drive looks worse than it actually is.

A spokesperson for Dana Point said the city’s geotechnical engineer and a building inspector assessed and cleared the area where the slope failure occurred.

“Currently the city has confirmed that there is no imminent threat to the home, and no further action is being taken at this time,” the city’s statement said.

The owner of the mansion is also seeking their own "assessment of the situation" and is in touch with officials, the city added.

The Orange County Fire Authority officials also said they're aware of the landslide, but they were not called for, nor do they plan any, emergency work.

But the landslide is prompting questions over whether homes should be built on the edge of bluffs in the first place.

“It's just devastating to see videos like the ones that are coming out of Dana Point and it's also, unfortunately, becoming much more common with increasing rainfall and sea level rise,” said Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the California Coastal Commission. “The combination of those two phenomena are destabilizing some of our coastal cliffs and I think landslides and on bluffs like these are, unfortunately, likely to become more common.”

The destabilization occurs as bluffs absorb higher rainfall totals and then sustain more erosion at the base from rising sea levels, she said.

“These two different erosive forces are increasing erosion and destabilizing the cliffs and leading to increased risk of landslides,” Huckelbridge said. “The videos we're seeing are a good indication that these are not safe places to build homes.”

The owner of one of the home on the cliff’s edge declined to comment when reached by phone on Tuesday.

“We don't want to put people in harm's way and that's exactly what's happening to some of these blufftop homes,” Huckelbridge added. “I do think that there's going to be an increased effort to pull some of these developments back and certainly not be approving development right up against the edge of a cliff.”

After the historic rainfall that pummeled California, she said, there was an uptick in the emergency permits for local governments and private landowners to stabilize the coastline.