tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563205518828267408.post7037401831461397195..comments2024-01-19T08:08:23.595-08:00Comments on All of My Faults Are Stress-Related: Landslides, nature, and the blame gameKimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07738706550175991130noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563205518828267408.post-83578336126342205632007-10-05T12:33:00.000-07:002007-10-05T12:33:00.000-07:00Brian - I'm looking forward to reading your post!C...Brian - I'm looking forward to reading your post!<BR/><BR/>Chris -<BR/><BR/>I don't know much about San Diego (or, technically, La Jolla) city government. But there's an article about existing landslide info <A HREF="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071004-9999-1n4geology.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. <BR/><BR/>The USGS published a map that showed landslide hazards in the area in 1995. If there were housing developments in the area in the 1960's, that would have been too late for the city to have prevented building the houses in the first place.<BR/><BR/>But there's another issue that's important in a lot of US communities - some groups consider it unconstitutional to prevent a private property owner from developing his/her land - at least without the government paying the property owner for the value of the land. The power of those groups varies from state to state, so there's a lot of variation amongst land use laws in the US. (The one exception is in flood zones - there is a national law that deals with flood insurance and, so some extent, with flood plain development.) But attempts to prevent people from building on unstable slopes, or on barrier islands, on in other clearly hazardous areas tend to be quite controversial in the US.<BR/><BR/>So I'm not sure that the city could legally have prevented the development even if they understood the hazards. (I don't know California law.)Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738706550175991130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563205518828267408.post-36222372181449279472007-10-05T05:13:00.000-07:002007-10-05T05:13:00.000-07:00Do you know if the risk of landslides has ever bee...Do you know if the risk of landslides has ever been assessed by the city authorities? If they granted planning permission without (or in spite of) a proper risk assessment, the residents may have a case.<BR/><BR/>Of course, even I've heard about the landslide risk in coastal California, so it's not exactly obscure knowledge ...Chris Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923865059164569384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563205518828267408.post-32251658633377349322007-10-04T21:12:00.000-07:002007-10-04T21:12:00.000-07:00"And so, for that matter, is gravity... which is u..."And so, for that matter, is gravity... which is ultimately the cause of both landslides and mine collapses."<BR/><BR/>You're nicely foreshadowing my Accretionary Wedge #2 post.<BR/><BR/>nice post...well saidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com