Council lifts emergency status from Mount Soledad slide

City News Service

The City Council on Tuesday rescinded a state of emergency for the Mount Soledad landslide that damaged 82 homes four years ago.

The declaration was made two days after the Oct. 3, 2007, slide in the 5700 block of Mount Soledad Road so that the city and residents would be eligible for state and federal aid. The state government code requires the City Council to officially declare the emergency to be over.

Robert Hawk, the San Diego’s senior engineering geologist, said the city’s repair work was completed.

He said the slide, which took place in an unstable area that experienced three similar events in the previous 46 years, rendered 82 houses at least temporarily uninhabitable, mainly because of a loss of utilities.

Four homes were demolished and one remains uninhabitable, Hawk said.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who represents the area, said the slide impacted numerous families.

One can only imagine the (emotional) pain they felt and continue to feel,’’ Faulconer said.

He said he drove past the neighborhood on Saturday, and a sense of normalcy has been restored.’’

The city will require that appropriate geologic investigations’’ be made in advance of future construction, or changes to existing structures, on Mount Soledad.