Davis family settles Encinitas lighthouse collapse lawsuit for more than $32 million – San Diego Union-Tribune

Relatives of three women who died in a Grandview Beach cliff collapse in 2019 have reached a settlement totaling more than $32 million with the state, the city of Encinitas and coastal property owners.

In addition to a $32.85 million payment and “an additional confidential monetary amount,” the settlement agreement contains a requirement that Encinitas increase public awareness about the risks of scam collapse. The educational campaign will include new posters, videos and additional training for beach lifeguards, the Davis family attorney said.

“We want to be clear that we do not see this as a victory,” attorney Bibianne Fell wrote in a prepared statement Thursday. “We view this as the beginning of a multi-pronged effort to raise public awareness about the hidden dangers of the bluff collapse. We will consider it a ‘victory’ when these awareness efforts prevent future tragedies.”

The women, Julie Davis, Anne Clave and Elizabeth Cox, were attending a large family gathering at Leucadia’s Grandview Beach in early August 2019 when a massive piece of sandy cliff above them fell to the beach, killing them. Moments before the landslide, the family’s numerous grandchildren were gathered around a cooler just behind the three women’s chairs. If the children had stayed there a few minutes longer, they would have died too, Encinitas pediatric dentist Pat Davis told the City Council several weeks after the 2019 tragedy.

Davis lost his wife, his daughter, and his wife’s sister in the cliff collapse.

“I don’t want what happened to my beautiful family to happen again,” he told the City Council.

He added that he had been told that the best way to recover from this tragedy was to find a sense of purpose and, for him, that purpose would be to advocate for beach safety projects.

In its news release announcing the new deal Wednesday, the city of Encinitas wrote that it would be responsible for paying $13.3 million of the total cost of the deal. That night, rumors were already circulating online that the city was going to use revenue from a Nov. 5 sales tax ballot measure to cover its new $13.3 million spending, an audience member at the meeting said. of the City Council on Wednesday.

That’s not true, responded the city’s chief risk officer, Jace Schwarm. Encinitas has regular insurance and excess insurance, and the excess insurance company will cover this cost, he emphasized.

The city settlement’s news release said the new cliff safety education campaign will include “improved” signage with QR codes that will allow beachgoers to watch a video about “the dangers of being too close to the cliffs.”

The press release from the Davis family’s attorney states that the lawsuit contains information about the long history of cliff collapses in the area and mentions that there have been warnings from experts about the instability of the cliffs dating back to 1983.

“Since the 1980s, factors such as inadequate stormwater management, the proliferation of non-native ice plants and climate change have exacerbated the risks associated with cliffs,” he says.

Originally Posted: October 25, 2024 at 3:32 p.m.