Azusa : Hearing Set on Ghost Town
An administrative hearing on alleged Municipal Code violations at Mayor Eugene F. Moses’ Canyon City Ghost Town on San Gabriel Canyon Road has been set for June 15.
The city last week began public-nuisance proceedings against Moses over a 2.5-acre Western theme park that he began building, but never completed, at the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon in the 1970s. The mayor may have to raze all of the Old West-like cabins, shacks and stables on the property to comply with the code.
According to city staff, the ghost town lacks required use and building permits, adequate parking and landscaping, and proper storage facilities for materials on site. It is also in a generally dilapidated state, according to a “notice of violations and request for corrections” sent to Moses in March.
To comply, Moses was to have bulldozed the town or have submitted a new plan for use of the property and the buildings.
Moses, however, said he is in full compliance with the law and has charged that the hearing is the result of political vendettas.
A hearing officer has not yet been named, but City Administrator Julio J. Fuentes said it will be a senior staff member.
Under the code, a property owner who does not correct violations is guilty of a misdemeanor.
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