Outlook
Failing Retaining Wall East of 147 Pine Drive: Immediate Risk to Downslope Residents From Max Rudsten <[email protected]>
Date Wed 10/7/2026 11:40 AM
To Heather Abrams <[email protected]>; Barbara Coler <[email protected]>; Frank Egger <[email protected]>; Lisel Blash <[email protected]>; Michael Ghiringhelli <[email protected]>; Stephanie Hellman <[email protected]>; Fairfax Town Council <[email protected]>
Members of the Town Council,
I'm writing to make sure you're aware of my family's situation in connection with the failing retaining wall east of 147 Pine Drive.
My name is Max Rudsten. My wife and I live on Cascade Drive with our two young children, directly below this wall. I was recently added to the Pine Drive residents' email thread and have now reviewed the full history of the conversation, including Kristin Arnold's responses.
I appreciate the work Kristin and Public Works are doing to assess the situation. I'm writing to you separately because most of the discussion so far has focused on road access and the impact to Pine Drive residents, which is significant but the risk to families living downslope is different in kind. If this wall fails, the debris path runs directly toward our home. My kids' bedrooms are at ground level facing the slope.
I'm not looking to get ahead of the process. I just want to make sure that as the Town evaluates next steps (e.g.- engineering inspection, interim measures, funding options) the safety exposure to downslope residents is factored into the urgency and prioritization.
I'm happy to walk the site with anyone from the Town or the geotech engineer so you can see the exposure from below. That perspective may be useful as you assess the risk.
Thank you for your attention to this.
Best,
Max Rudsten
428 Cascade Drive, Fairfax
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Max Rudsten
(c): 415-847-6403