I understand that someone was killed in that same area when a house slid several years ago. I was able to obtain this information easily. I would think that before someone builds a business at the bottom of a hill or in a slide area, which that area was before construction of Sapphires began, they would consider the risks and do some research including talking to the property owner above. I put even more blame on the city for allowing Sapphires to be built there, as they, more than anyone else should have known about the problem home above and the past problems in that area. The owner of Sapphires has spent money to help remedy the problem, but the reality is that if the homeowner demolishes the home and walks away the owner of Sapphires will be the one that will need to keep investing money into the hillside to save his business from being eatin up by the slide. If he chooses not wanting to be put in this situation he should leave.

what is the latest on the hillside slide and the restuarant.please give update as to whats going on. thanks

OK, enough "lip service" , Mr. Hill, NB and the home owner need to get together, quit blaming each other, and find a solution they can all agree upon. If we can build "skyscrapers in earthquake zones", then we ought to be able to build a retaining wall to keep the rest of the hill from sliding. Mr. Guirado has a lost investment, personally, I would have never bought that house. Plant some new trees and shrubbery up on the new retaining wall that has sturdy footers done by an engineer that knows his stuff, and be done. Expensive? Most likely! Let's quit complaining and come up with some suggestions. Good ones without the finger pointing. The house is condemned? Where's he gonna live now? No one seems to care about that.

Interesting question on this subject:

I wonder IF the restaurant was owned by a NB council member would something had been done already to fix this accident waiting to happen? I guess NB council members never heard of the saying "A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of CURE"....

There is one thing I really admire about Japenese people, when they have a problem , they first fix the problem , then they look for person or persons who are to blame for the problem. We could learn a thing or two from them.

You can argue until doomsday about who is at fault in this situation. However, this is not going to stop the slide or keep people from being hurt either in the house at the top or in the restaurant at the bottom. We elect people to make decisions for the safety and progress of our communities. So, what's happening???????

Can anyone say global warming caused?Al Gore would

i drove by sapphires today and they were open. glad to see that i hate to see anyone out of work, but what is happening with the slide. did the owner put up a better retaining wall. and are they going to be allowed to remain open. what is the update.

Too many college kids?
Many of these 'college' kids pay tuition, pay rent, work here, buy food and clothing, and pay for entertainment in this area. Too many???? I say too few! These 'college' kids help our economy. No college kids = No SOCC = No affordable education = no faculty = less area income = lower economy. I welcome the college kids! Gives the area a much needed breath of fresh air!

Having watched this debaucle unfold on Ch14's coverage of NB City Council, I feel for Mr. Hill. He does bear some responsibility by choosing the site in the first place given it's history, but the shenanigans he had to wallow thru with the council was absolutely ridiculous. But the councils ignorance should at least give some comfort to ICANTBELEIVEIT who feels we have "to many college kids". Yeah, thats right, ignorance is bliss isn't it? But you should at least figure out how to spell "BELIEVE" first or when to use "to" as opposed to "too". Fits right into why dirty energy companies feel they can bamboozle us...and they're right. Next thing we'll be lining up to harpoon whales for the whale oil.

Just to set the record straight here are a few facts. For those of you who watched us construct sapphires, we did not cut the toe of the hill. We spent the money to raise the entire site to act as a butress for the toe of the slope. If you want to check this fact, call Jhonson Rock who trucked in the sand fill we used to raise our site 4 feet over the original grade. This is a man made debris flow over the original ground. The base of the hill is still where it was 30 years ago when the big slide happened. It had settled and the drainage was established. If you want to check that theory look up the hill and you may notice they are missing a huge chunk of material. It did not just vanish. It flowed over the top of the lower hill. There was a little sluffing going on at the top of the hill when I was building the restaurant, I was glad Yessi bought the property and was having a fix designed by a reputable engineer. Yessi hired an engineer to design a fix for the house. His intentions were good and his engineering was approved by the city. The retaining wall construction failed during construction due to failed engineering. You can still see the footing of one of the tiers at the base of the uppermost scarp. That is the cause of thiss mess. This house was fixable at the onset of their project. I did not review Yessi's engineering until the falure began. I just figured it was a permitted job, it was inspected by the building inspector and was designed by a liscensed engineer. It was not that big of a job so I was not worried about it. Engineers build 7 story hotels on bay silt, they stabilize hillsides above our nations highways, They can build skyscrapers in earthquake zones and even put men into space. To say My location should not be developed is absolute ignorance. These kinds of locations are developed all over the world, including Coos County. There is no reason for the failure above my property other than failed engineering, it was not that hard of a fix. Now the house is totalled. It is that way because the cost of the repair to save the house has exceeded the value of the home. Just some things to think about. And thank you to all the folks who have supported us! We might just might survive this and get to continue being an asset for Coos Counties economy.
Eugene Hill.

If memory serves, the Astoria slide was on or near Alameda Street. A friend of mine had a Grandmother who lived on that street - her house was wiped out - completely.

When does a building permit over ride common sence? When there is money involved. That hill was moving way back in the sixties. I feel we have to many college kids, and not enough knowledge to know what happens when you cut away the bottom of a cliff. Anyone remember Astoria, and what happened when a hillside was trimed to add a parking lot?

Maybe the city let the home owner take so long and miss so many deadlines because they do not want to become the owners of a worthless piece of land. You see the city would have to pay for the demolition of the home and have no way of getting their money back. So it was in their best interest to see if the home owner would spend his money.

I was very disappointing to see the city put off demolishing the home over money and the safety of its citizens. We all know that the hill slid, but the house could have easily came down too. The city should have erred on the side of safety.

Mr. Hill the owner of the resturant conducted himself in the most professional manner and was more than patient with the city. After all the city issued permits for everything.

Maybe it is time for some changes in the management of the city of North Bend. We need professionals that know what they are doing. Not want-a-be's that are members of the club.

I thought there were some laws about removing lateral support from adjacent land?? It is obvious that they removed the toe of the slope when they groomed the restaurant slope.

Also, removing the house is not going to stop the hill from sliding.

Mr. Hill undoubtedly got a "good deal" on this property when he decided to build a restaurant at the bottom of a sliding hill. That property has been sliding for decades. Mr. Hill wants sympathy and compensation...for his mistake. Who issued the building permit? Who cleared the hillside? Where is the common sense here?

Concerned Guy,

According to the neighbors of the house in question, it was the PREVIOUS owner who cut down the trees - not Mr. Guirado who is being suddenly the villain here.

http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2008/01/24/news/doc4798d818d8e32549087357.txt

I happen to love Sapphire's and eat there frequently, but I fail to see how this is the present homeowner's fault and sole responsibility. Mr. Guirado never issued the restaurant permit, nor did he draw up the construction plans, dig up earth around the base, OR take out the trees.

The whole thing is sad and a result of horrible planning IMO. I feel for both sides.

I miss Woody's Quik Wok; no mudslides, only good food!

i would like to say to the restaurant owner why on earth did you buy that property in the first place.you should of been able to see the start of the slide when you first looked at it. and didnt anyone tell you about the history of that hill.its been a hazard for years. i blame everyone involved, you should never been allowed to build there in the first place.i do feel sorry for the employees that work there . hopefully they can get work elswhere.

I am sorry, but really. I want you all to mark my words, when that house is removed the problem isnt going to be over, The next houses owner will be on the chopping block. Ground usially changes and settles I mean really get off the owner and look at the hill. Its sliding Oh my gosh lets get a lawyer and sue it!!!

I have read several comments about how the restaurant owner "cleared the bottom of the hill and cut down the trees". If you would have paid attention to the entire process as I did, you would have seen a different story. The bottom of the hill and trees were untouched, as a matter of fact soil was ADDED, not removed from the bottom to further stablize the hill. A major drainage system was put into place to handle the water runoff from the hill. The home owner paid $12k for the house (look it up), the price alone shows the house needed to be stabilized. I assume he was trying to make some money on it (can't blame him for that), but the trees that were removed were removed by the HOMEOWNER to put in retaining walls to stablize his investment. I don't see how either party did any "wrong" here, except follow the advice of their engineers. The best question I've seen on here is "why did the city issue permits to anyone" (let alone EVERYONE)?

Mistakes on the part of a lot of people. I don't feel sorry for the restaurant owner trying to take advantage of a depressed economy and a silly building location. But, he may still legally be in the right (even though the history of the hill suggests he didn't do his research... and should have spent more money on engineering and not the size of his building), as NB completely dropped the ball.

The restaurant shouldn't have any trouble finding a new and suitable relocation site with all the businesses that have gone under in the area. The home owner will then have time and space to clean up the mess. Everyone is going to loose here, so they may as well just suck it up and get on with it. Obviously no one is going to fix something for you....

I have followed this story in the World Newspaper. Yesturday morning i heard an ad on a local radio station for Sapphire's Mongolian Grill & i was amazed..then i went to North Bend & saw that the hill had slid !! My question is to the Building Inspector that let Mr. Hill build his business under a Sliding Hill ??? I'm glad to see i'm not the only person that is "Beyond Amazed" !!!

I blame the City of North Bend for letting the home owner do nothing for so long. Is something going in North Bends back pocket? Also who issued Sapphires the building permit? They knew the hill side was unstable but yet they issued a building permit. I am seeing the the cities and county taking a do nothing stance till someone or something is in real danger. Heaven forbid that the first time they investigate something, something gets done about the problem. People look around and see things that other counties have ordinances on that Coos county just closes there eyes too. IE: TRASH, RUSTY VEHICLES, ANIMALS THAT PEOPLE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH LAND FOR OR DON'T CARE FOR PROPERLY. PARTIAL BURNED HOMES THAT MAKE GOOD DRUG HOUSES. But yet they will fight to stop a family wage company coming in, think about it people.

I remember when they cleared the lot for Sapphires. My first thought was "why would someone build there? That entire hill came down a few years back and destoyed a house" The owner of Sapphires had to know. I'm amazed he was issued a building permit. Why is everyone blaming the who owns the house above? It's the hill that sliding, not the house!

Did the City of North Bend say the hillside was stable before construction began or before a loan or capital was secured by the owner? Anyone who has lived here longer than 10 years had to know that hillside had a history. It's the same for East Bay Road and a lot of other areas in Coos County. I know somebody bought land in the Coquille Valley thinking they were getting lake front property. They returned in the Summer to find the Lake had been abducted by the Pacific Ocean.

Life isn't fair and we all do stupid things. Some of us can't afford the best parcel of land to build a home on or business. We all have to make a living and we all need a roof over our head unless we are ducks (not Duck fans). I hope all parties involved are insured or were able to plan for the worst no matter how inevitable this all seemed to the rest of us arm chair quarterbacks.

As for the City of North Bend I can only hope everything was done in good faith. Since other businesses have such a hard time settling here perhaps a corner was cut or a short cut was taken. Sometimes you may have to take a chance to give somebody an opportunity to live the dream.

What about those folks who were employed at the resteraunt? Do we say they deserved the outcome? To the homeowner do we walk up to that person or family and say "It serves you right"? What about the neighbors? This won't be the last slide here. Ground water at the base of the hill will continue to undermine the hill until there is no more hill. Wind and water caused erosion will flatten this hill.

My advice with be to condemn all the homes on that side of the street and allow nature to take it's course. The folks nearby need to be given notice that they will need to be prepared to leave their homes. Perhaps this could be considered some kind of disaster and relief money could reimburse home owners so they could relocate.

Looks like the Neroes on the NB city council did a fine job fiddling while the hill slides. Glad to see the hill did it's thing sooner than later to force the hands of all concerned but it was inevitable the hill WOULD slide.


Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of law...LOL! The lawyers are going to have a field day with this mess!

WHY OH WHY HAVE THEY LET ANYONE REBUILD THERE?MY AUNT LIVED THERE IN 197O AND THAT HILL WAS MOVING THEN!TO REMOVE THE TREES AND CUT OUT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL WAS CRAZY!I DONT FEEL THE HOME OWNER IS RESPONSIBLE AT ALL.THE BIZ OWNER SHOULD OF DONE HIS HOMEWORK ON THAT AREA.NOW THE CITY NEEDS TO HELP OUT BOTH PEOPLE,HOME OWNER AND BIZ OWNER!I THINK THEY BOTH NEED A GOOD ATTORNEY,GOOD LUCK!

We have two parties who purchased property that either was unstable or was below an unstable area. This was not wise. Now I'm sure they both realize that in the state of Oregon there is no insurance coverage damage due to land movement. This will be a total loss unless they carry very expense special coverage. Do they now want the city of NB and the taxpayers to pay for their ignorance?

Now that the hill is so slippery, And the gap between the hill and the wall has been filled,The house might fly over it! Good luck.

That sucks. I've never eaten at Sapphire's but I've heard the food is great. Tough situation on both sides. It's like leasing a place in Pony Village. Before you know it they slide on you and shut you down.

In past articles and this one, also, it appears Mr. Hill is blaming his pick of sites and low business count on anybody but his self. Some Responsibility here, Please? We have eaten there when it first opened and tried it again several times. The service and preparation has not improved. We gave it several chances. Perhaps he can turn it into a hardware store. . .Shovels anyone. . .

people no one is too blame. the rain made the slide happem although i do agree that by cutting into the bank did make it very unstable. but hey atleast there is a wonderful place to eat in north bend/coos bay now! i love saphirres!

way back in the 70's that hill was sliding...
I remember an old house at the bottom of the hill to the left of the restaurant that is there now...that became a victim of that same sliding hill.....
so WHY would someone build there, right under that same spot?, then cry "foul"?

i predicted the house would crumble on the restaurant when the paper headlined the house collapsing on some works. well, i was off a bit and it was just dirt. guess the house is waiting until after another year's worth of meetings with the city council.

This hill has been sliding for YEARS, so why did this guy build this restaurant there in the first place? Now everyone is irate about it, but it has been many years since the first slide took out a couple of houses there, or did everyone forget? If he chose to build that restaurant without looking up, and checking into it, HE should be responsible. Quit blaming the city and the home owner. Let the resaurant owner pay to have the house moved! Or the city! It makes me angry everytime I read about this, maybe next time, he ought to look around BEFORE he builds, he'll be suing the city next.

Come on folks, I remember years ago when first moving here that hillside slid down on a home in that same area and severely injured and years later killed a young boy that lived in that home. The city knew about this and yet years later after doing nothing allowed this restaurant to be built there. That home has been there for a long time. The homeowner, Mr. Guirado, has not owned that house for very long. Why all of a sudden since he took possesion of it has it become an issue? This is something that has been happening for a long time. In my opinion, I believe this should fall in the cities lap for allowing the permits for the building of the business in the first place. Also, as said in other quotes, you can't be yanking out the trees and expect that hill to stay put!! To the city of North Bend, this is your mess, you clean it up! Leave Mr. Guirado out of it. What happens when Heaven forbids some of the other homes up there starts to slide?

Great job of having The World newspaper siding with the restaurant owner in every article written about this. This causes the readers to side with the restaurant owner. And the city of North Bend won't do anything, they just sit in their meetings and (since they don't know their hills from a hole in the ground) do nothing to assist.
Anyone who has lived on this planet can tell you if you clear a hill, it will slide. And Mr. Yesi Guirado is responsible how?

"The City of NB has been far too gracious" ... or is it that they can't or won't make a decision.

So let me see if I get straight...the city would rather not take a strong stance on a house that is "unoccupied" over the safety and success of a local business that is trying to succeed in our financial depressed area.
With all the struggles this town has had with keeping businesses open in our area due to the economy...this is just crazy and just another reason why our area is just stagnet!! This homeowner has been allowed to dictate to the city his agenda and timeline of taking care of things when he is good darn and ready. I guess we're just lucky that no one was hurt by this weekends landslide.

Has anyone bothered to even speak to the homeowner to get their side of the story? It seems to me that there are two people in the wrong. Number one is the owner of the house and number two is the owner of the restaurant? Why would anyone build a restaurant at the base of a hill that has been known to have landslides. It seems to me he is the one that had the most to lose and needed to be the most responsible of the two.

Apparently my previous comment submission was lost, but thank you 12:49 & 12:51 for asking the obvious questions that I too was trying to mention.

I hope someone does get a lawyer involved. Whoever did the planning for that site gave Mr. Hill very bad "expertise" in my opinion. Of course a hill is going to be unstable when you carve into the very bottom of it and strip away all the trees.

Did Mr. Guirado do this? I don't think so. Yet now he's the one being forced to eat major expense to fix something he clearly didn't cause, and Mr. Hill & his planners obviously didn't think about.

With all due respect, I don't know that it's the homeowner that should be getting vilified here, and I'm shocked at the amount of comments from people on here immediately jumping on Mr. Guirado and the city, instead of whoever it was that thought taking a big dip from the bottom of a (now) treeless slope was ever a good idea.

Thank you to The World for continuing to cover this item - the only way we can pressure anyone to make a change is to make sure everyone's aware of this ridiculous situation. It's high time Mr. Guirado wakes up to reality.

The house was there before the restaurant, who cleared the hill?

It was not a wise thing to place a building in a site that had already had a slide take out buildings and take a life. That is just common sense. Now who has to pay for this? As a responsible business owner - you should ALWAYS do your homework. It does suck to have this happen - but it was so obvious that it was going to happen - why do you think they closed the Roosevelt School down?

The City of NB has been far too gracious with the homeowner, even when he missed multiple deadlines. From the coverage I've seen in The World, Mr. Hill has done more than his fair share, yet the City is more accomodating to the could-care-less homeowner. Shame on you city of NB!

Shame on the city for allowing this to happen. It was inevitable, no matter what any 'professional engineer" said. Mr. Hill, I hope you take the city to task for not protecting your interests. Thank God the building has been spared so far, and that there haven't been injuries. The expense of all of this should be borne by the homeowner.

Why would anyone put a restaurant there in the first place?

I don't understand how the city could allow this to go on so long. We finally get a decent restaurant in town and now it's closed because of someone else's negligence!

That house should have been condemed and moved a long time ago, why is North Bend giving that man so long to do something about it. It has no business sitting on the edge like that endangering people below it. Mr Guirado knew when he bought it, it was a danger, and he has taken way to long to do anything about it. What if someone was walking down in the parking lot of the resteraunt and got covered with mud.....whos fault would that be....??? Get that house out of there....then stablelize the hillside...

This was something everyone but the city council could see coming. My heart goes out to Mr. Hill. I am just so greatful that no one was hurt when this happened. I am saddened that it has come to this when this last summer somethign could have been done to prevent it.
Mr. Hill I hope you have a good attorney and good insurance because I can see you needing them now.

The World has been great about providing coverage on this matter. Thank You