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2026 Community Updates Archive
See below for Community Updates from 2026.
For updates from 2025, please visit the 2025 Community Updates Archive.
For updates from 2024, please visit the 2024 Community Updates Archive.
For updates from 2023, please visit the 2023 Community Updates Archive.
February
Drone shot courtesy Geosyntec Consultants.
Update: Overnight Work on PV Drive South Completed Early
Overnight work on Palos Verdes Drive South as part of a landslide study has been completed one day early. The road will remain open overnight tonight, February 13, 2026, and no additional closures are planned. Thank you for your patience.
Voluntary Property Buyout Program Update
At last night’s City Council meeting, City staff gave an update on the Voluntary Property Buyout Program in the landslide area. The City is still awaiting a formal award of $42 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding from FEMA for the first round of the program, which is expected to fund the acquisitions of 22 homes.
In May 2025, the City applied to join a waitlist for additional HMGP funding that could open up in the event that other statewide grant projects fell through. The application sought $29 million for a second round of the program. Earlier this week, Cal OES informed staff that additional funding indeed became available, and the City has been selected for $10.16 million, which could fund the acquisition of approximately five more homes. Staff is now revising the application based on the available funding amount and will work with Cal OES and FEMA through the process. Additionally, Staff is working on another HMGP grant application for $19 million to fund a third round of the program, which could cover approximately eight homes.
As a reminder, all remaining eligible applications after the initial 22 homes will maintain their order of priority for any future rounds of program funding based on factors such as safety concerns, structural condition, and utility statuses. While there is no definitive timeline for when the first properties can be purchased, the City still anticipates being formally awarded the round one grant from FEMA in at least several months from now.
Please know that City staff is working as quickly as possible to move through this lengthy and complex process, which involves multiple levels of close review by FEMA. Cal OES has assured City staff that the agency will be stressing to FEMA the urgency of moving the buyout program forward.
Reminder: Palos Verdes Drive South Overnight Closures February 11-13
Palos Verdes Drive South will be fully closed overnight in the landslide area for three consecutive nights on February 11-13, 2026, due to Public Works surveying the area. The 2-mile stretch of the roadway will be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly to all vehicle traffic in both directions from Peppertree Drive to Schooner Drive. Drivers should plan ahead and use an alternate route.
Why is the temporary road closure necessary?
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is conducting a study to help better understand groundwater in the Portuguese Bend Landslide and how it flows underground. This valuable information will be used by the City’s engineers to optimize solutions to slow the landslide, prevent future acceleration, and ensure the long-term integrity of Palos Verdes Drive South. The three-night, full closure is necessary so equipment used for subsurface mapping can detect groundwater without noise and vibration interference.
What is the City doing to minimize impacts?
This work is taking place overnight to ensure minimal disruptions. The City is notifying impacted neighborhoods and businesses and coordinating with the Lomita Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department so they can plan accordingly. Portuguese Bend Community Association residents will still have access to the Narcissa Drive gate and the Peppertree Drive gate (westbound travel only). Message boards are being placed along Palos Verdes Drive South to advise drivers of the planned closures.
Questions?
If you have questions about the overnight road closures, please call Public Works at 310-544-5252 or email the City at landmovement@rpvca.gov.
January
January 29, 2026
Palos Verdes Drive South Overnight Closures February 11-13
Palos Verdes Drive South will be fully closed overnight in the landslide area for three consecutive nights on February 11-13, 2026, due to Public Works surveying the area. The 2-mile stretch of the roadway will be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly to all vehicle traffic in both directions from Peppertree Drive to Schooner Drive. Drivers should plan ahead and use an alternate route.
Why is the temporary road closure necessary?
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is conducting a study to help better understand groundwater in the Portuguese Bend Landslide and how it flows underground. This valuable information will be used by the City’s engineers to optimize solutions to slow the landslide, prevent future acceleration, and ensure the long-term integrity of Palos Verdes Drive South. The three-night, full closure is necessary so equipment used for subsurface mapping can detect groundwater without noise and vibration interference.
What is the City doing to minimize impacts?
This work is taking place overnight to ensure minimal disruptions. The City is notifying impacted neighborhoods and businesses and coordinating with the Lomita Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department so they can plan accordingly. Portuguese Bend Community Association residents will still have access to the Narcissa Drive gate and the Peppertree Drive gate (westbound travel only). Message boards are being placed along Palos Verdes Drive South to advise drivers of the planned closures.
Questions?
If you have questions about the overnight road closures, please call Public Works at 310-544-5252 or email the City at landmovement@rpvca.gov.
February 3 City Council Meeting
On February 3, 2026, the City Council will receive the latest updates on the landslide emergency.
According to the most recent survey data collected in early January, since November, the Abalone Cove Landslide accelerated by an average of 18% to approximately 2.15 inches per week and the Portuguese Bend Landslide accelerated by an average of 20.8% to 1.38 inches per week. The Klondike Canyon Landslide continued to see no measurable movement. The average movement rate for areas still moving within the active landslide boundary was 1.66 inches per week, a 14.3% increase since November.
The City’s geologist believes the most likely factor contributing to reacceleration is the added mass of significant early season rainfall percolating into the landslide. As of last week, 11.61 inches of rain have fallen on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 2025-26 rainy season, which is about 84% of average seasonal rainfall. A similar phenomenon was observed in March and April of 2025, following February and March 2025 rainfall. However, landslide deceleration resumed by May 2025, as the rainy season waned and the pumping of deep dewatering wells continued.
At next week’s meeting, the Council will also receive a financial update and consider extending by 60 days the local emergency declarations in the landslide area and the temporary prohibition of bicycles, motorcycles, and other similar wheeled vehicles from an approximately 2-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South.
A staff report (PDF) with more information is available on the City website.
January 20, 2026
An artistic rendering shows Wayfarers Chapel rebuilt up on the Alta Vicente hilltop, seen from Palos Verdes Drive West, with the Point Vicente Lighthouse in the background. (Courtesy Architectural Resources Group/Agency Artifact)
Rep. Lieu Advocates for Proposal to Rebuild Wayfarers Chapel
Today, South Bay Rep. Ted Lieu advocated for a proposal to rebuild the landslide-damaged Wayfarers Chapel at the Ken Dyda Civic Center in Rancho Palos Verdes.
In written testimony submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee following last week’s Member Day hearing — when Members of the House of Representatives share their districts’ priorities — Rep. Lieu announced plans to introduce a bill authorizing a land transfer that could lay the groundwork for the National Historic Landmark to potentially be rebuilt on the Battery Barnes property adjacent to City Hall. The legislation would give the federal government 10 years to transfer the 4-acre former coastal military defense site, which is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, to the City.
“The Wayfarers Board has developed a vision to reconstruct the Chapel on the Battery Barnes property while serving as an educational and cultural site, community gathering space, and architectural destination. For this to happen, the federal land must be transferred to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes,” Rep. Lieu wrote in his testimony.
Battery Barnes was identified by City leaders and the Wayfarers Chapel Board of Directors as an ideal site for rebuilding, offering a microclimate and ocean views similar to the chapel’s original location above Palos Verdes Drive South.
The proposal to rebuild Wayfarers Chapel at the Ken Dyda Civic Center is still in the early stages, with no commitments or agreements in place.
“Transferring this land is an essential step toward ensuring the Chapel can rise again and stand as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the community in the face of a natural disaster,” Rep. Lieu wrote.
The City thanks Rep. Lieu, the Coast Guard, and Wayfarers Chapel leadership for their partnership as we work together to keep this cultural treasure in the community where it stood for generations.
Read Rep. Lieu’s full written testimony (PDF) on the City website.