It’s Difficult Living in ‘No Man’s Land’

Sometimes U. K. Wabi and his neighbors aren’t quite sure where they live--in the city of Gardena, in unincorporated Los Angeles County, or in some never-never land between the two.

It all depends on which officials you talk to, says Wabi.

When there’s trouble where Wabi lives--on West 144th Street near Western Avenue--like everyone else he calls 911. But emergency officials often are unsure whether to send Gardena police or county sheriff’s deputies who patrol the unincorporated area, he says.

Sometimes, they give him both phone numbers and leave it up to him, Wabi told a recent meeting of the Gardena City Council.

When Wabi wants his street swept, the county tells him to call Gardena, but Gardena officials say it’s the county’s responsibility, Wabi said.

“It’s a no man’s land,” Wabi told Gardena officials Tuesday night. “It’s turning into a ghetto (with the) noise, prostitution, graffiti and abandoned cars. . . . I have a feeling that if it belonged to somebody, somebody would police it and clean it.”

Wabi, who told the council he was representing other residents of the 1700 block of West 144th Street, lives in what is known as the Rosecrans corridor, a 198-acre unincorporated county area that extends along Rosecrans Avenue from Crenshaw Boulevard to Western Avenue.

Gardena officials are trying to annex the mile-long corridor that is bounded on three sides by the city, a move that has support among some corridor residents.

And this week they began that long process as the council unanimously approved the city’s annexation application to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

City Manager Kenneth Landau said: “All the members of the council have been discussing (annexation) for many, many years.” The city staff’s report on the annexation and the application to LAFCO took about eight months to put together, he said.

The report said about a third of the Rosecrans corridor is residential, home to more than 1,700 people, according to 1980 census figures. Twenty percent is industrial and 18% commercial. The remainder of the corridor is vacant land, public streets and rights of way, city officials said.

Residents have few problems with routine services such as garbage collection, said Wabi; they feel estranged only when requesting a not-so-regular service such as an ambulance.

In interviews this week, city workers, county officials and sheriff’s deputies said Wabi’s residence is in the city--at least up to the face of the curb in front of his apartment building. The street itself falls within the county’s jurisdiction, officials said.

Victor Costlow, who works for the city Department of Public Works and lives in the corridor, described the situation on 144th Street as common elsewhere in the area.

“We got a real screwed-up boundary line,” he said.

Annexation of the corridor would solve many of the residents’ problems, Gardena officials say.

The city would provide fire and police protection, and the Gardena Public Works Department would provide street maintenance and sweeping. Residents in the area, which is about 2 miles from the Gardena Civic Center, would have access to the city’s recreational and health services, including youth and senior citizen activities and counseling services.

Taxes for corridor residents would remain about the same if the annexation is approved, though fees for weekly trash hauling would decrease from $40.89 per quarter to $19.05 per quarter if residents participate in the city’s trash hauling agreement.

The Rosecrans corridor has also long been a target of criticism from Gardena residents, who have complained that hotels, motels and nightclubs in the area attract crime that spills over into the city.

Last month, in response to residents’ complaints, the council passed a citywide emergency moratorium temporarily banning construction of hotels and motels. It doesn’t affect the corridor, which is under county control.

The proposal to annex the unincorporated section is hardly new. It was voted down by residents of the corridor about 15 years ago, said Jim Gregg, senior administrative assistant.

This time around, it may be six months to a year before officials know the fate of the present annexation move, Landau said.

Before annexation occurs, the city must approve another resolution authorizing transfer of property tax revenues from the county to the city. Then LAFCO will hold a public hearing. Under county annexation regulations, if there is no significant opposition, LAFCO could approve the annexation at the same meeting following the public hearing.

The City Council must then hold its own public hearing, and if there still is no significant protest from residents of the area, the council could approve the annexation, which would go into effect the next day, the city’s report said.

Significant opposition, according to the report, would be protest from more than 25% of homeowners in the annexed area. If there is protest from more than 25% of the residents, the issue would be put on the ballot and could be voted on only by residents of the area to be annexed.

If there is opposition from more than 50% of the residents, city officials would be forced to drop the annexation attempt.

The amount of opposition would be measured by counting how many residents sign LAFCO petitions and how many speak against annexation at City Council and LAFCO public hearings, Gregg said.

Mayor Donald L. Dear said the annexation would give residents of the area better services and increased opportunity to participate in local government.

Councilman James Cragin said he would “welcome people in the county. We think they’re good neighbors and we’d like to have them with us.”

A spokeswoman for the county Department of Public Works said residents in the corridor should call district engineer Al Kelm at 776-7552 if they are in the county and can’t get their streets swept.

Apparently, Wabi’s street-sweeping problem may already be over.

Even though a 247-foot stretch of 144th Street--including the part of the street in front of Wabi’s residence--is in the county, the city posted “No Parking” signs on Wabi’s block Thursday to make way for street sweeping every Tuesday. Costlow said the city was doing it at Wabi’s request.