Demolition Of Pacifica Cliff Apartment Building Nearly Complete

(San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee’s office reached out to Pacifica’s Mayor Sue Digre to offer assistance after Pacifica declared a local emergency on January 22. Pictured here are Pacifica City Manager Lorie Tinfow, Pacifica Public Works Director Van Ocampo, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Pacifica Mayor Sue Digre touring the damage site at the sea wall and promenade on Beach Blvd.)

PACIFICA - The demolition of a 20-unit apartment building on the edge of a rapidly eroding cliff in Pacifica will likely be completed Monday.

City officials hoped to have the building at 320 Esplanade Ave. down today but the weather interfered, a spokeswoman for the city said.

Demolition started Saturday on the building that was declared unsafe in 2010. Since then the building has become a hazard to people who walk on the beach below and an environmental hazard to the ocean.

Saturday, a contractor demolished 75 percent of the building and hauled it to a landfill, Director of Public Works and City Engineer Van Ocampo said. Once the building is torn down, the property won't be developed again.

The next step will be to stabilize the cliff and protect the road and utilities from being eroded away.

Ocampo said during the rest of the El Nino, crews will be working to keep the cliff from eroding further by making sure the property slopes toward the street gutter.

This summer, city officials will decide on a more substantial method to stabilize the cliff, Ocampo said.

First, money needs to be found for the work, which Ocampo guessed could cost $4 million.

Crews Sunday demolished the interior of the building and left the west wall standing to protect the beach from debris. The demolition is estimated to cost 200,000, which the city will try to recoup from the building's owner.

Millard Tong has owned the building since 2010 or before, but has failed to stabilize the property as owners of similar properties have.

City officials filed a criminal complaint against Tong and on Feb. 23 he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors. Tong was sentenced to three years of probation and told to cooperate with the city as it removes the building.

The city decided to take over the demolition because the building presented such a hazard and cleaning up after the building fell to the beach could cost $2 to $4 million.

-Bay City News, images via City of Pacifica