ENCINO : Residents Renew Plea for City to Fill Hole
An Encino homeowner group on Friday renewed a call to city building and safety officials to enforce an order to fill a massive 3-year-old crater at the intersection of Hayvenhurst Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.
Known among its neighbors as “Lake Hayvenhurst” because it fills with water during the spring, the hole was dug in 1990 to remove contaminated soil from the site that previously housed a gas station with a leaking underground gas tank.
Several developments, including a supermarket, drugstore and bookstore, have been proposed for the parcel owned by Imperial Bank, but no agreements have been reached.
Discouraged by cancellation of plans for a supermarket and drugstore in June, and apparently stalled negotiations for a Ralph’s supermarket and bookstore, the president of the Homeowners of Encino is asking the city to force the bank to fill the hole.
“This is it. Time is up,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino. “We’ve been waiting around for three years and nothing has been done.”
In a letter sent Friday to the Department of Building and Safety, Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude and bank officials, Silver complained that the hole is an unsightly safety hazard the city has neglected to take care of for three years.
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