"We're still here, again, and no further along than when we first started," building advisor Bart Willoughby said.
Willoughby says it is good news that they don't have worse news. Last year's work on the bluffs has stopped and it's now mired in a legal maze.
"One company has sued for foreclosure; the other has sued for foreclosure. The owners have cross-complained and sued for negligence," Willoughby said.
But while courts move slowly, nature moves predictably. With another cycle of winter storms moving in, some work has resumed beneath the bluffs apartments. Today, crews dropped more rocks at roughly $600 each to build a breakwater and protect the base of the cliff. Next week, they begin drilling nails for a concrete wall to protect the top.
"If there are buildings on the bluff, they had permission to build there. So they need permission to maintain their buildings, there," contractor Mike Avila said.
All of this work has made for a noisy neighborhood. One resident said that cranes have become as much a part of the landscape as the ocean.
"Well you don't really win. The battle is the ocean is the heavyweight champion of the world. It's undefeated. You just try to hold your serve," Avila said.
