Landlords Back Street Closures in Drug War but Ask Who Will Pay Cost

A group of Sepulveda apartment owners formed a committee Tuesday to study the possibility of establishing a guard station at the entrance to a 12-square-block area barricaded by police two weeks ago to curtail drive-by drug sales.

Police say the program has been so successful that the streets should be permanently closed off, allowing residents and guests to enter only through a guard station at Sepulveda Boulevard and Rayen Street.

The City Council, which would have to approve permanently removing the streets from public use, is scheduled to consider an interim measure today that would keep the roadblocks up as long as police deem necessary.

Tuesday night about 15 people--owners or managers of about a third of the 60 apartment buildings in the area--met with police officials. They endorsed the proposal but stopped short of agreeing to pay for it. Many owners live outside the city and were unable to attend.

“I am personally for anything it takes to keep out drugs, but we have to find out what the others think,” said Mila Casper of Northridge, who owns 18 units in the area.

Several private security firms have submitted bids to staff the guardhouse, but declined Tuesday to reveal their estimates of the cost. However, a representative of Efficient Patrol & Guard Service of Van Nuys--which did not bid on the business--said a 24-hour guard could cost from $6,000 to $9,000 per month, depending on whether the guard was armed.

Casper said the newly formed association will look into whether it can pass on part of the cost to residents in the form of a monthly charge. Under the city’s rent control laws, landlords may raise rents to pay for improvements.

But one property owner said Tuesday in a telephone interview that taxpayers should foot the bill.

“It’s a good idea, but I think they should use taxes to pay for it,” said Vernon Mesick of Carpinteria. He said that if he lived in the neighborhood, he would try to organize the tenants to staff the guardhouse themselves.

Police Capt. Mark D. Stevens told the apartment owners that the cost of staffing the guardhouse would be well worth it. In the two weeks since police put up the sawhorse barricades, drug traffic has been virtually wiped out in the area, he said.

Stevens said some property owners expressed concerns about the appearance of the guardhouse, whether “it will look like a neighborhood you or I would want to live in.”