OC Register: 5 years later, massive sinkhole at La Habra condo complex is getting repaired

By Michael Slaten / Orange County Register
Excerpted from the OC Register

A massive sinkhole at a La Habra condominium complex will soon be no more, local leaders declared Thursday, Aug. 15, by lifting the first dirt into the wide trench, signaling the start of construction that will repair the collapse from five years ago.

A storm channel running underneath a grassy area between two rows of homes in the Coyote Village condo complex collapsed in early 2019 after heavy rainfall, exposing a huge hole just feet from residents’ doors. Efforts to figure out who should pay to fix the problem and legal wrangling delayed getting the storm channel rebuilt, and a second sinkhole formed in 2023.

But now, those questions have been answered and workers on Friday will begin repairing the storm channel, where one hole that opened up was 100 feet long and 20 feet wide.

“It is such a relief to know that this is finally on its way,” said Rose Lujan, whose home is right in front of the storm channel.

State Sen. Josh Newman said the hazard was too important to ignore and in 2022 secured $8.5 million in state funding to pay for the repairs. Newman said while responsibility was in dispute for a while “there was no question it was going to be expensive.”

The condos’ homeowners association, Newman said, would have had to assess its 71 units to pay for the repairs.

“Most, if not all, of the residents here cannot afford that,” Newman said. “Most, if not all, the residents here would have had to sell their properties.”

Read the full article from the OC Register here