City Council Meeting Highlights

Highlights from the July 1, 2025 City Council meeting:

• The Council received a report on the results of enhanced traffic law enforcement along the Switchbacks section of Palos Verdes Drive East. During a 10-day period at the end of May, Lomita Sheriff’s Deputies issued 110 citations, of which 78 citations were for speeding.
• Palos Verdes Drive East will remain a high-priority enforcement zone due to safety concerns expressed by residents. However, replicating the level of deputy presence achieved during the initial 10-day focused enforcement period is unlikely to be sustainable until more supplemental overtime patrols are made available. 
• That said, the Lomita Sheriff’s Station will continue to include the Switchbacks as part of its targeted enforcement strategy and will monitor this area regularly using existing resources and supplemental overtime, when available.
• The Council is scheduled to consider whether to adjust the speed limit on Palos Verdes Drive East from Crest Road to Palos Verdes Drive South at its meeting on August 5, 2025.
• City staff gave the latest updates on the landslide emergency. Since September, deep dewatering wells at the toe of the Portuguese Bend Landslide have extracted over 260 million gallons, or 800 acre-feet, of groundwater — enough to cover the entire landslide area in over 1 foot of water.
• From April 5-June 3, 2025, average land movement rates decelerated considerably, continuing the downward trend of movement over the past four months. This is believed to be largely due to significantly below-average rainfall, the positive effects of the major winterization efforts and the ongoing dewatering efforts by the City and abatement districts.
• Finally, the Council renewed for 60 days the local emergencies in the landslide area and the temporary prohibition of motorcycles and bicycles along a two-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South.

For all City Council actions from the meeting, watch video at rpvca.gov/agendas.