Tear Down This House

All I want to do is tear down my neighbor’s house. I want it demolished, flattened with wrecking balls, sledgehammers, whatever it takes. And I want the city of Los Angeles to do it, because no one else will. Is that too much to ask?

The ugly, dilapidated old building in question is within spitting distance of my home on Mt. Washington.

It’s been vacant since the early 1980s and it’s more than an eyesore. Like so many other abandoned properties across the city, it is an obvious threat to public safety. According to neighborhood lore, transients lived there not long ago.

There is a principle in archeology that a vacant building will fall into a state of disrepair at a much faster rate than an occupied one. My neighbor’s house should be in an archeology textbook.

Earthquakes have cracked the walls and sent the brick chimney tumbling. Wild grass and ivy are growing inside the old house. Several years ago, a thief stripped all the plumbing fixtures and the copper electrical wiring.

This old white box is barely holding on to the top of a hillside. I’ve imagined myself leaning up against one wall and pushing it, Atlas-like, down the hill, ridding myself of its ugly presence once and for all.

Fortunately, we have laws for such buildings. Our city leaders long ago realized the potential for mayhem and general blight caused by such abandoned structures.

Last winter, the city Department of Building and Safety sent inspectors to the house. They posted a note on the door--or, rather, on the piece of plywood covering what used to be the front door. The note declared that the house was a nuisance that should be “abated.”

On Dec. 10, the fate of the house was placed on the agenda of the regular public meeting of the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners. I decided to attend and throw in my two cents.

Having been a reporter for several years now, I’ve covered a lot of government meetings. But I’d never actually testified at one, and I was a little nervous. Fortunately, I had notes.

I told the commissioners how frightened I was for the safety of my family. I told them what I knew about the history of this particular structure. Supposedly, it once belonged to a “cat lady,” a troubled woman who lived in a station wagon at the bottom of the hill while her cats had the run of the house.

Put this sad little house out of its misery, I told the commissioners. Do the right thing.

After I finished my impassioned little speech, I swear the commissioners looked genuinely moved.

They also heard some supporting testimony from a local police officer and Louis Mraz of the Mt. Washington Assn. A staff member of the Building and Safety Department said the building had, in fact, first been declared a nuisance Oct. 9, 1981. A few minutes later, the panel voted to tear the house down. Unanimously, 5-0.

After the vote, one of the commissioners told the Building and Safety representative to tear down my neighbor’s house “within a week,” citing the urgency of the fire danger posed by the structure. Building and Safety said it would take workers two weeks to get out to the site.

I left the hearing room with a big smile and a “thank you” for the commissioners. Some of them smiled back, and I had the feeling that they were proud of me for coming to testify, for doing my civic duty.

The two weeks passed. And then a month. True, we had some bad weather. Remember how much it rained in January? I figured they’d get around to my neighbor’s house as soon as the skies cleared. Maybe you need good weather for a demolition.

Then the weather dried up. We had a nice hot spell or two. Eventually, all the green brush that grew wild during the winter started to turn brown.

Four months after I testified at City Hall, the pathetic little white box on the top of the hill still stands. I’ve tried calling Building and Safety officials to ask them what the delay is, but they’ve never returned my calls.

Once, I was given the number of a certain supervisor who shall remain nameless. The number was busy when I called. It was busy an hour later, it was busy the next day, it was busy three days later. As far as I know, it’s still busy.

This is a citywide problem, of course. I’m told by people who have observed Building and Safety over the years that abandoned buildings and other quality-of-life issues (like taking on slumlords, for example) are not a priority at the department. Officials are more worried about approving new construction and other activities that generate money.

Apparently, 16 years is not long enough for the department to get around to an abandoned structure, even when members of the community come forward, even when the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners orders it to do so.

Maybe I should go buy a sledgehammer.

If you have concerns about an abandoned home in your neighborhood, call the Department of Building and Safety at (213) 485-7091.