Relatives of three women killed in a 2019 collapse on Grandview Beach have reached a more than $32 million settlement 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 raise public awareness of the risks of collapsing the bluff. The education campaign will include new signage, videos and additional training for lifeguards on the beach, the Davis family’s attorney said.

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

The women – Julie Davis, Anne Clave and Elizabeth Cox – were attending a large family gathering at Grandview Beach in Leucadia in early August 2019 when a huge piece of the sand cliff above them fell onto the beach and killed them. Moments before the landslide, the family’s many grandchildren were gathered around a refrigerator just behind the three women’s chairs. If the children had stayed there a few minutes longer, they too would have died, Encinitas pediatrician Pat Davis said weeks after the 2019 tragedy.

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

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

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

In its press release announcing the new settlement agreement Wednesday, the city of Encinitas wrote that it will be responsible for paying $13.3 million of the total cost of the settlement. By that evening, rumors were already circulating online that the city would use the Nov. 5 proceeds to cover its new $13.3 million in spending, a member of the public said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Not true, responded the city’s risk manager, Jace Schwarm. Encinitas has regular and excess insurance, and the excess insurance carrier will cover that cost, she pointed out.

The city’s settlement press release said the new bluffing safety education campaign will include “enhanced” signage with QR codes that allow visitors to view a video about “the dangers of being too close to bluffing faces.”

The press release from the Davis family’s attorney states that the lawsuit contains information about the long history of the bluff collapse area and notes that there have been expert warnings about the bluff’s instability dating back to 1983.

“Since the 1980s, factors including poor stormwater management, the proliferation of non-native ice plants and climate change have exacerbated the risks associated with the cliffs,” it said.

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