Zoning Codes

Try as I might, it was hard for me to feel sympathy for Isaac Gabriel, the subject of Al Martinez’s Aug. 14 column. Gabriel, a well-educated man, apparently never bothered to pull a permit before converting his Temple City home into a duplex. Now he’s paying for his indis- cretion.

Of course, who can blame Gabriel for wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet of a neighborhood of single-family dwellings without assuming the burdens of single-family zoning?

I strongly suspect that the author of the column doesn’t live in a neighborhood plagued with code enforcement problems such as weeds, trash, stray dogs, graffiti, abandoned shopping carts and, of course, illegal occupancy. If he did, I doubt he would attack civil servants whose “offenses” consist of following the law.

DAN DOBRIN, Pomona