LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Accident Calls Attention to Crumbling Hill

For years, Lake View Terrace and Pacoima residents say, they’ve asked that something be done about the steadily crumbling sandstone hill that towers over a 50-yard stretch of Osborne Street near Hansen Dam.

Rocks and dirt from the 100-foot-high embankment sometimes tumble onto the sidewalk and into the street, making passage difficult for pedestrians and cars going to and from Hansen Dam Recreation Area, a major outdoor attraction.

So when a rock recently rolled down the hill, bounced in the street and cracked the windshield of 68-year-old Marjorie Miller’s passing car, residents said the time had come for the city to take action.

“I’m not concerned for me--I’m fine,” said Miller of Lake View Terrace. “What I’m concerned about is the tremendous amount of liability the city is exposing itself to. To say they don’t know is ridiculous, because they put (pylons) out to direct people around the debris.

“What I’m most concerned about is the young mothers who walk by that hill with babies,” Miller said. “They are forced to push their strollers in the street because the sidewalk is covered with mud and rock. Can’t the city just put up a fence or something?”

A spokesman for Councilman Richard Alarcon acknowledged that complaints have been made about the hill. The spokesman said field deputies will study the problem and possibly recommend action to the Department of Public Works.

Ray Jackson, president of the North East Valley Homeowners Assn., said he first requested action on the hill situation more than two years ago, when former Councilman Ernani Bernardi represented the district.

“They ignored us then,” grumbled Jackson, who has pressed for other infrastructure improvements in Pacoima, one of the San Fernando Valley’s most economically depressed communities.