Charges Fly as Community Pushes for a Building Halt

Charging that Los Angeles officials have ignored building violations in a Woodland Hills neighborhood, residents have stepped up demands for quick approval of a ban on construction of “substandard” homes in their hillside community.

Homeowners said that officials have improperly authorized construction of large homes on tiny lots and that city inspectors have allowed shoddy construction in a rapidly growing area south of Ventura Boulevard.

The accusations were leveled Thursday night during a sometimes acrimonious Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization session that was marked by clashes between homeowners and building-and-safety officials.

City officials at the meeting emphatically denied wrongdoing in the development of the small lots in Woodland Hills’ oldest neighborhood.

“We do the best job we can to get construction to comply with the code,” said Tim Taylor, San Fernando Valley manager of the Department of Building and Safety.

Taylor said the city is required to issue building permits when projects conform with zoning ordinances. After that, his inspectors are required to approve construction that meets established building standards, he said.

Officials Criticized

But homeowners, some of whom came to the meeting armed with the addresses of new homes that allegedly violate city standards, criticized officials for turning their backs on complaints.

Residents said some builders have been allowed to construct homes too close to narrow streets and to existing houses. Other developers have erected fences and sidewalks on city-owned rights of way, several homeowners complained.

Homeowners contend that violations have occurred because space is at a premium in the 1 1/2-square-mile area around the Woodland Hills Country Club, known locally as the Giraud tract. The area was first subdivided in 1922 as a weekend retreat for Los Angeles residents.

“We’ve yet to see anything ordered torn down up here,” said Gordon Murley, president of the homeowners group. “It seems, if you’re a developer and you ignore the system, you get many more rewards.”

Denies Bending Rules

Taylor acknowledged that slip-ups can occur in the city bureaucracy. But he denied that officials allow developers to sidestep the law, and he urged homeowners to call back if the city does not act on their complaints.

“I’m not going to stand here and let you say our inspectors walk away from jobs,” he told Murley.

Taylor said his office is prepared to stop issuing building permits when and if City Council enacts a moratorium on construction in the neighborhood. At homeowners’ urging, City Councilman Marvin Braude on Oct. 8 proposed a one-year building ban so new development standards can be set for the area.

Brad Rosenheim, an aide to Braude, in whose district Woodland Hills is situated, told residents that it will “probably be several months” before the moratorium issue is reviewed by the council’s Planning and Environment Committee and sent to the whole council for a vote.

Homeowner leaders indicated that they will argue forcefully in favor of the moratorium at both levels, although one resident made it clear Thursday night that he is opposed to it.

“I’m 76 years old and I may not live a year,” said Francis Hellstein, who hopes to develop a 3,000-square foot lot he owns near his Giraud tract home.

“Why not say you’ll buy my lot from me and not build on it and make everyone happy? A year is a lifetime for me,” he told his neighbors.