Deadline from Pacifica: Prove it or Lose it, Thursday 4/22

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According to a KPIX-TV 5 (CBS) story on CBS5.COM by Joe Vazquez, Pacifica Apartments Dangle Closer To Ocean’s Edge (article
video):

The city has given the owners along Esplanade until Thursday (April 22) to come up with a new analysis to prove the buildings should stay.

Julia Scott confirmed the deadline in her San Mateo County Times story on MercuryNews.com, Parties play blame game over latest Pacifica cliff erosion. Ms. Scott reported:

Pacifica has given them (the owners of 310, 320 and 330 Esplanade) a deadline of Thursday to present a plan with evidence that the buildings can be made safe enough to occupy.

From Scott’s story: according to building representative Bart, building owners have met repeatedly to try to agree on a way forward but have not worked it out so far. “The stakes are high,” said Steve O’Connor, president of the firm hired to work on the bluff, Engineered Soil Repairs. O’Connor said, “if you don’t save these buildings, you’re endangering the buildings on the other side of Esplanade Avenue.”

Demolition Seems A Likely Outcome

The owners appear to be disagreeing on a coordinated solution to the bluff erosion problems, but I’ll bet the underlying issue is financing. The most important similarity among the owners along Esplanade is probably not the location of their buildings, but the challenges of running a profitable business as a landlord on Esplanade.

In a KTVU.COM KTVU / TV36 (FOX) story Erosion Damage Weakens Pacifica Cliff by Lloyd Lacuesta, an agent for one of the owners told (him) that they have yet to complete the attempts to shore up the cliff because they need some $2 million dollars to finish the job and can’t get a loan.

We have heard directly from the City Council that Pacifica can’t afford to buy the buildings or bail out the owners. The City of Pacifica does need to protect the street and utilities under and over it, but it can probably do that with disaster assistance funds once the privately owned apartment buildings are gone.

The scenario I expect is for 330 and 320 Esplanade to be condemned, and then the owners to be required to demolish them and remove the rubble.

KPIX-TV 5 (CBS) CBS5.COM. Raw Video: New Erosion Found at Pacifica Cliff, Tuesday April 20, 2010 1:09 PM. Chopper 5 video shows new damage at the scene of an Esplande Ave. apartment complex in Pacifica Tuesday.

For a complete chronology and links to many more photos see Evacuation underway at 330 Esplanade:

http://adequatebird.com/2009/12/17/evacuation-underway-at-330-esplanade/

See all of my pictures of the Esplanade crisis:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisd2006/collections/72157622920945823/

Further bluff collapse beneath 320 Esplanade

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Further bluff collapse beneath 320 Esplanade endangers more of the building.

4/16/2010

  • Photo 1. The north of 330 Esplanade showing the cement patio tilted down and opened a gap next to the 330 Esplanade deck. The green recycling can is sitting on a level, undamaged part of the patio. This was taken at the fence between 330 Esplanade on the left, and 320 Esplanade on the right. (Click an image for a larger version.)
  • Photo 2: same direction as photo, but showing the brown roof of a shed in the top third of the image. Behind you can see the two-storey deck of 330 Esplanade still standing but now the corner pole is unsupported by the soil / sand of the bluff. The angle of the patio can easily be seen in its tilt down and to the right.
  • Photo 3: detail of photo 3.
  • Photo 4: this is the right side of the patio area, with 320 Esplanade just out of sight to the right.

4/15/2010 11:30 PM

Comprehensive, sobering report from KGO-TV 7 (ABC) More Erosion Threatens Pacifica condo. The building at risk, 320 Esplanade, is apartments not condos.

4/15/2010 6:00 PM

From KGO-TV 7 (ABC): More erosion threatens Pacifica condo (Wayne Freedman).

  • According to the KGO story Pacifica Building Official Doug Rider and City Manager Stephen Rhodes inspected new damage at 320 Esplanade this morning.  Reportedly, “the collapse took a deck with it, which in turn pulled reinforcing protective concrete from beneath the building next door.” As a result small cracks have now appeared in the building foundation, and Pacifica is considering red-tagging the whole building. The story also mentions some interesting details about the attempts to find funding for the work.
  • I took a look back there this evening and the entire poured concrete patio that spans the distance between the backs of 320 and 330 slid down the bluff one to two feet, and now tilts downward about 40 degrees. Folks that are familiar with that area will remember a 4′ or 4 1/2′ wooden railing along that patio… that railing is now lower than the walkway leading out to bluff between 320 and 330.
  • There is now open space between the patio and the buildings on either side, and the entire area looks very precarious. It was pretty shocking, and at this point it looks like that a significant portion of the top of the bluff collapsed.
  • There was no way for me to see the foundation of 320 Esplanade from safely (and legally!) behind the locked gate.
  • Asked about his assessment, Tony Fortunato, the project supervisor for the teams that made the emergency repairs behind the buildings, said “We can repair that. If the owner of 320 Esplanade had put the reinforcing concrete beneath his building, we wouldn’t have this problem, now.”
  • Fortunato is clearly one of the good guys in this saga from our perspective, but from what I could see of the patio damage this quote doesn’t make sense. It is hard to understand how the failure of the top of the bluff below the patio can be attributed to any work that was or was not done below a building 20 to 30 feet from the patio.
  • Depending on the extent of the damage to the base of the bluff caused by last week’s high surf, it is possible that this collapse was caused by ground water at the top of the bluff.
  • The KRON 4 TV Video below shows the damage, though it is a little hard to understand it. I’ll post some pictures I took there this evening if any of them come out.

4/15/2010 5:30 PM

From KRON 4 TV News Video Raw Video: Cliff Continues to Erode at Pacifica Apartment Complex (KRON4.com seems to be having trouble so this may not work. If it doesn’t, try the direct link to the file below.)

  • The following video was shot from the patio running behind 330 Esplanade. The “patio” is the tilted concrete. Across the patio is 320 Esplanade. 330 has already been entirely red-tagged and evacuated. Only the 6 apartments nearest this patio have been red-tagged in 320.
  • Link to video file (MP4 format, requires QuickTime)

For a complete chronology and links to many more photos see Evacuation underway at 330 Esplanade:

http://adequatebird.com/2009/12/17/evacuation-underway-at-330-esplanade/

See all of my pictures of the Esplanade crisis:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisd2006/collections/72157622920945823/

West seems a strong direction here

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West seems a strong direction here because almost right away, going west from here, there’s a big change of form that goes on for long. I could walk east for thousands of miles for some cause or no cause, but west, I can’t walk very far that way for any cause at all. The rolling surf says things can be really different, and says it again and again.

Peace and Love and Noticing the Details by Anne Herbet

Sigone by Chris Dant

I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store

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Independent Record Store Day, Saturday April 17th!

For sale at indie record stores for 90 days starting on Independent Record Store Day, this Saturday April 17th, “I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store” (DVD site). Amoeba Records is listed as a distributor, but I didn’t see a mention of it on their schedule for the day.

Trailer:

YouTube link.

From the press release:

Guerilla filmmaker Brendan Toller unleashes “I NEED THAT RECORD! THE DEATH (OR POSSIBLE SURVIVAL) OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD STORE,” a documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade.

Greedy record labels, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, Ecommerce, shoddy “stars” pushed by big money, and the digital revolution all pose threats on the very well being of our favorite record stores. Will these stores die? Will they survive?

Featuring- Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Ian Mackaye of Dischord Records Fugazi/Minor Threat, activist/author Noam Chomsky, Mike Watt of the Minutemen, Lenny Kaye guitarist of the Patti Smith Group, Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club, guitar composer Glenn Branca, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Pat Carney of the Black Keys, punk author Legs McNeil, rock photographer Bob Gruen, BP Helium guitarist from Of Montreal, and many many indie record stores across the U.S. of A!

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