WALNUT PARK : Abandoned House Faces Demolition

The graffiti-scarred house at Pacific Boulevard and Cudahy Street should be nothing but a memory by the end of next month.

If county officials follow a current plan, the three-bedroom, Spanish-style house at 2556 Cudahy St., once a standout on a block of well-kept single-family homes, will be demolished sometime in October.

Neighbors who say the building has become a crime magnet and shelter for transients and stray animals have been complaining to county officials about the abandoned building for more than two years, said Floyd Dominguez, president of the Walnut Park Community and Merchants associations.

In recent years, the property has became a dumping ground, said Mike Gomez, vice president of the community and merchants groups. A fire broke out on the property earlier this year, and until a county crew cleaned up the area in August, piles of trash and human and animal excrement littered the yard.

“The place has been a dog pit” since 1988, Gomez said. “It’s a rat-infested, pest-infested eyesore.”

A grant deed for the property shows it was purchased July 24, 1988, by Alex Gabyan and Iraj Khoshnood of Pacific Palisades. But the building was never occupied, and county officials are now unable to locate the owners despite four attempts to contact them, said Clarissa Watson, a county Building and Safety Department spokeswoman.

The owners had until Thursday to repair or destroy the structure before the county took control of the property.

The county will spend about $20,000 for asbestos testing and demolition of the structure.

“It’s a nuisance to us, and we’d like to demolish it,” Watson said.