Sunland-Tujunga Residents Upset Over ‘Eyesore’ Lots

Sunland-Tujunga residents cherish the undeveloped open spaces that give a rural atmosphere to their community in the scenic foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

But there are exceptions.

Susan Riggs, 31, hates the undeveloped open space just outside her window, a vacant field she calls “an eyesore.”

Her feelings are shared by most of her neighbors in the 10000 block of Samoa Avenue.

“This lot has just brought down the whole neighborhood,” said Rhea Allen, 35, who lives across the street from Riggs. “It’s a hazard and just plain ugly. The neighborhood has tried to do something about it, and for a while, it seemed a little bit better. But it’s still a mess.”

The field, about a third of block in size, is adjacent to the shell of an apartment house that was abandoned by its builder.

Dumping Ground

The land has been filled for several months with abandoned cars with missing hoods and engines, broken-down sofas, weeds, piles of rocks, castoff Christmas trees and wooden boards bristling with rusty nails. It has a makeshift skateboard ramp which attracts teen-agers who neighbors say sometimes use it until well past midnight.

Neighbors said that late last year at least two people were living on the lot, in a tent, but are now gone. Visitors to the area use the field as a parking lot.

The field consists of two adjoining lots. The larger, approximately 110 feet wide and 193 feet deep, is owned by Samuel Schilit, an Encino developer. Schilit’s son, Menachem, 36, said last week he was unaware of the condition of the lot but thought most junk had recently been cleaned off the property.

A smaller adjoining lot is owned by Michelle Markus of Philadelphia, officials said.

Markus, contacted at her home, said, “There’s cleanup going on there all the time, but we can’t stop people from dumping.” She declined further comment.

Building Abandoned

Neighbors also are upset about a partially completed apartment building on the 7100 block of Valmont Street which was abandoned two years ago. All the windows in the building, which adjoins the vacant lots, have been broken, and the building frame was for a time a hangout for gang members.

The vacant lots and abandoned building disturb apartment house developers, who want to encourage a rising interest by young professionals in the pleasant, middle-class neighborhood of single-family homes and apartment buildings. Samoa Avenue parallels Commerce Avenue, a retail street a block away, and Little Landers Park, where mothers take their children to play on swings.

An 18-unit apartment building was recently completed across the street, and other apartment complexes are planned.

‘Trying to Upgrade’

“We’re trying to upgrade this area, but something like this really hurts,” said Patrick Fretto, 65, owner of the new building.

“There are lots of nice people living in this area, but they are very distraught about this,” said Lois Jewell, 48, a realtor in the area. “It makes it very hard for developers.”

Allen and developers in the area say they have given petitions to Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the area, asking him to do something about the field.

The complaints were received last week by the investigation bureau of the city Department of Building and Safety. Tim Lukasiewicz, supervisor of investigations for the bureau, said criminal charges by the city attorney’s office could be filed against the owners if the property is not cleaned up.

Arline De Sanctis, a Wachs aide who oversees his Sunland-Tujunga district office, said the field is typical of the city’s problem with vacant lots and other open spaces in Sunland-Tujunga that have become dumping grounds.

“There are junky vacant lots all over Los Angeles, but because Sunland-Tujunga is a rural area, the situation is more pronounced,” she said. “Many of these lots are just dumping areas. Many areas of La Tuna Canyon are places where people dump just anything. Our office has made it a priority to try to clean up the community.”

Concerned about the field making the neighborhood less attractive to potential tenants, Fretto and other developers contacted Menachem Schilit late last year and asked him to clean up the lot. Schilit gave them permission to clean the property. He spent his own money hauling away cars and other junk during the holidays, Fretto said, but more junk has been dumped in the meantime.

There are indications the field and the building will be cleaned up soon.

Plans to Finish Units

Independent general contractor Rod Stein, 34, recently acquired the building on Valmont Street, saying he plans to finish the five-unit apartment structure. He said the previous owner apparently ran out of funds before he could complete the building, and just left it.

“I’ve got to admit, the building looks like quite a nightmare now, and I can see why the neighborhood is upset,” Stein said. “But we’re going to fix it up nicely. I’m proud of Sunland-Tujunga, and I hate to see this kind of thing happening.”

Menachem Schilit said he planned to rehabilitate his father’s property. “We were under the impression it was all cleaned up, and we will now make arrangements to see that it is cleaned up,” he said. “We don’t want to harm the people around there. We have a duty and legal responsibility to do what needs to be done.”

He said his father had owned the land for about 20 years and there were no immediate plans to develop the lot.

Rhea Allen did see one good thing about the vacant field. “At least there’s no building there, and you can still see the mountains,” she said.