Hot Property : Gardena Trying Again to Annex Rosecrans Corridor

The house across the street from Gaylord Taylor caught fire last Christmas and burned before firefighters could put out the blaze.

Taylor says the house might have been saved if his neighborhood, an unincorporated county area that juts into the city of Gardena, were served by Gardena fire stations rather than the county stations, which are farther away.

Taylor is one of many supporters of Gardena’s campaign to annex an area known as the Rosecrans Corridor, a 198-acre section of county land that extends into the city from Crenshaw Boulevard to just east of Western Avenue.

Last month the County Board of Supervisors endorsed the annexation. The proposal now is before the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the tate panel that oversees municipal annexations and incorporations.

The agency’s staff this week recommended approval of the annexation to the commission, which will hold a hearing on the proposal Aug. 8 at the County Hall of Administration, said Michi Pakahashi, the agency’s executive assistant.

If LAFCO does not reject the plan, then the City Council must also hold a hearing to determine public support among the estimated 1,700 residents of the area.

City officials claim that annexation, which has been attempted in the past, will provide better fire and police protection, and clean up a graffiti-ridden strip where prostitution and strip joints thrive. They also promise to use city zoning laws to confront bars and an adult book store in the area.

County police and fire officials say they do a good job in the area, and dispute claims that annexation will improve services.

But to Taylor and others, the clincher is which fire and police departments are closer.

“If you get a heart attack, you’d be dead before anyone gets here,” said Taylor, who lives on 146th Street near Crenshaw Boulevard.

If annexed, his neighborhood would be covered by Gardena’s fire station on 135th Street near Van Ness Avenue, said Gardena Fire Chief Andy Bero. The station, which has fire trucks and an ambulance, is less than a mile from Taylor’s house.

The county’s closest fire station is in Lawndale, about a 1.5 miles away, but has no ambulances to send. The nearest county ambulance is stationed about 3.5 miles away in Lennox, county fire officials said.

Citing a study done by Gardena last year, Bero said, “Generally speaking, we could provide quicker service” in case of a fire or ambulance call.

The county and the city acknowledge the prostitution problem along Western Avenue near Rosecrans Boulevard.

On Wednesday, in a joint undercover operation conducted by city police and the county Sheriff’s Department, police arrested 41 men for soliciting prostitution. Police conducted the sting with undercover female officers in front of a motel one block south of Rosecrans on Western.

Two topless bars on the same block attract prostitutes and their customers to the area, police and residents said.

Romeo Hernandez, who has lived on 144th Street near Gramercy Street for 30 years and supports the annexation, said that streetwalkers have become an increasingly common sight there. “Sometimes I’m afraid to drive through that area,” Hernandez said.

A more vigilant police presence might discourage prostitution, drug use and other vice in the area, officials said. “It is Gardena’s opinion that we would provide better police protection,” said Lt. Jeff Finley.

Sheriff’s officials do not agree. Lt. Ray Gonzales, who works out of the Lennox station responsible for the corridor, said he doubts the city could provide better service or faster response times. The county has a car patrolling that area 24 hours a day, Gonzales said.

Even with annexation, the city could not simply close down the topless bars in the area because they are protected under grandfather clauses, said City Councilman Paul Tsukahara.

However, the city “would be able to exercise some authority and jurisdiction over them. . . . At the time of license renewal, we could impose all kinds of restrictions,” Tsukahara said.

Although the city has tried and failed in the past to annex the corridor, officials are confident that the current effort will succeed. If LAFCO endorses the plan and less than a quarter of the area’s voters or landowners do not protest in writing or at the subsequent City Council hearing, then the plan will be automatically approved.

If more than half the area’s voters protest, then the plan will be automatically rejected. An election would be held if between 25% and 50% of the area’s voters oppose the annexation.

Mayor Donald Dear said a vote would likely favor annexation, unlike the 1975 attempt. At that time residents feared higher taxes. In addition, the area’s garbage collectors campaigned against it because they feared losing their franchises.

The tax-restricting Proposition 13 should ease fears about taxation, Dear said, and a new law guaranteeing collectors their franchises for five years has quieted opposition from haulers.

An informal poll conducted by the city’s Chamber of Commerce showed that more residents and businesses favor the move than oppose it, although not by a large margin, said Tom Parks, executive vice president of the chamber. Many of the older residents are hesitant about making any changes, said Parks, who supports the annexation.

Supporters of the move cite easier access to government officials and a sense of identity as other important issues.

“It’s a hassle to get the county to do anything. It’s much easier to contact people in the city,” Hernandez. “I want to be a part of the city of Gardena,” added the retired printer, who noted that residents from his neighborhood often belong to the same community groups as Gardena residents.