Tenants Protest Plan to Raze Complex
About 60 low-income tenants of a Woodland Hills apartment complex staged a demonstration Thursday night to protest the proposed demolition of their building to make way for a luxury apartment complex.
The tenants, many bearing placards with messages calling the developer a liar and racist, marched in front of the Avenue San Luis apartment building, chanting “the people united will never be defeated.”
The development will require the relocation of more than 400 occupants, mostly low-income Latinos, said Juan Rodriguez, a neighbor of the apartment complex who helped organize the meeting.
Many of the tenants said they are fearful of being forced to move. “I want to stay here because I have my job close by, and I’ve been living here 15 years,” said Jovita Ruvalcaba, 29. Abel Escamilla, 31, said he wanted to stay because he has four children attending nearby Calabash Street Elementary School.
Tenants charge that the developer of the project, the Sherman Oaks-based Lycon Group, has tried to force many of them to move by allowing the two-story apartment buildings to deteriorate and by withholding adequate repair, security and laundry services.
William S. Lyons, president of the Lycon development firm, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Lyons has said in interviews that he wants to develop a 223-unit, two-building luxury apartment complex on the site.
The present 91-unit complex in the 23100 block of Avenue San Luis has been the source of many complaints from neighbors, according to police and city officials.
Residents have voiced concerns about outdoor beer parties, graffiti and noise, including gunshots, at the apartments, said Cindy Miscikowski, deputy to City Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the area.
Tenants, however, said neighborhood teen-agers are to blame. Because there is no security, abandoned apartments and laundry rooms are often vandalized, they said. Rodriguez said he feels tenants are being unfairly singled out as the cause of neighborhood crime because they are Latinos.
Miscikowski said the Los Angeles Planning Board is in the process of reviewing the Lycon project to determine if an environmental impact report is needed. If so, a demolition permit will not be issued to the developer until the report is completed, which could take several months. Braude has not taken a position on the proposed project.
Miscikowski said that the councilman’s office has been informed by the developer that some of the tenants of the apartment complex have already relocated. She said she is scheduled to meet with members of the Avenue San Luis Tenants Assn. next week to discuss their concerns.
