PACOIMA : Hill Not Under City Control, Officials Say

Los Angeles officials have acknowledged residents’ complaints about a steadily crumbling hill that looms over Osborne Street near Hansen Dam, but say little can be done to stem the tide of rocks and dirt that wash into the street below because the hill is not in the city’s jurisdiction.

After a dislodged stone cracked the windshield of a passing motorist last week, residents called attention to what they say is a potentially dangerous situation caused by the eroding, 100-foot high embankment. They said they’ve complained about the hill to various city agencies on several occasions, and note that a nearby sidewalk that leads to the entrance of Hansen Dam Recreation Area is often blocked by mud and rocks.

Officials from Councilman Richard Alarcon’s office said they did not receive complaints from residents about the hill until last week, but immediately asked the Department of Public Works to address the problem.

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Street Maintenance sent a crew to the site to clear stones and dirt from the sidewalk and street. But officials said the city cannot fix the erosion problem because the hill is located on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Hansen Dam flood control area.

“We can’t do much more than clear the road,” said Dennis Harding, street maintenance general superintendent in the Department of Public Works. “If the Department of Building and Safety thinks the hill is a safety problem, they’d have to cite the property owner, which in this case is the federal government.”

That’s not likely to happen, said Gerald Takaki, manager of the Van Nuys branch of the Department of Building and Safety.

“We’ve not been very successful in citing the federal government,” Takaki said. “In this case, we haven’t yet tried to contact them (the Army Corps of Engineers) but the federal government is over the municipal government. We can’t order (the federal government) to regrade the hill.”

However, Takaki said the city could erect a fence on the back side of the sidewalk at the base of the hill, because the sidewalk and street are owned by the city. “The city could do something about the problem.”

Army Corps of Engineers officials said the hill is located on property that is leased to the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks for recreation use. “They’d just have to inform us about what they want to do,” said Ted Carr, the Army Corps of Engineers project manager for Hansen Dam. “I don’t think it would be a problem to fix the hill from our standpoint. There’s probably a cost issue for the city.”