Pacifica cliffside apartment building demolished

With a satisfying crunch, two bulldozers sank their teeth into the roof of the ill-fated building at 320 Esplanade Ave., an apartment structure that for years had lurched toward the edge of a rapidly eroding cliffside in Pacifica. In the past few years, a combination of storms, fierce waves and rising sea levels has caused the coastal bluffs to recede. Pacifica officials condemned the building in 2010 and ordered its residents to evacuate, hoping the owner, Millard Tong, would raze the property himself. After years of waiting the city took over, launching a code enforcement proceeding against Tong in July, and following with a criminal complaint in October. Left to deteriorate, it could have sent lead, asbestos and other debris into the surrounding neighborhood about 15 miles south of San Francisco. [...] city officials on Jan. 25 yellow-tagged another of Tong’s properties, a neighboring apartment complex at 310 Esplanade Ave. Residents there were forced to move. Scott, who moved to the neighborhood three years ago, said the apartments at 320 Esplanade were among the last affordable housing options in the region. With El Niño storms pummeling the Pacifica coastline, officials in January applied for state and federal assistance to help repair wall breaches at Pacifica Pier and the promenade along Beach Boulevard, as well as a crumbling pipe that drains storm water from the Milagra Watershed. Scott, the neighbor, said that while she bemoaned the loss of moderately priced housing, she looked forward to having “more openness” in the landscape.