Hillside Apartments Safe, Official Says

After weeks of meetings with jittery residents of a hillside apartment complex, Ventura’s chief building inspector told the City Council that Harborview residents are in no immediate danger.

“There is little or no building movement,” city inspector Bob Prodoehl told the council Monday. “Which is our basis for saying the buildings are not uninhabitable.”

In recent weeks, several residents of the hillside Harborview Apartments--a 90-unit complex at 275 Kalorama Drive, 333 Kalorama Drive, 880 Summit Drive and 900 Tioga Drive--have approached the city complaining of asbestos, cracking sidewalks, slipping staircases and giant erosion holes next to their buildings.

They say they worry that their building is going to slide down the hill, and they say they have taken their concerns to the city but received little response.

Prodoehl told the council that owner James W. Boyd plans $3 million in repairs that would include new decks, site drainage, replacement of rotting and sagging wood framing and addition of structural steel beams.

The owner has taken six units off the market because they are unsafe and plans to take six more off by April 5, Prodoehl said.

Prodoehl told council members that he has been in regular contact with Boyd and all repairs should be completed by the beginning of the next rainy season.

But residents say they want more.

Former tenant Gloria Goldman requested that the city notify tenants about the structural conditions of the building, do a biannual inspection at Boyd’s expense and conduct an extensive soil report for all the buildings within 30 days.