Crews Set to Demolish 57 Dilapidated Houses

Demolition crews will soon begin razing 57 dilapidated houses near Desert Sands Park, relieving neighborhood residents of a long-standing eyesore.

The rundown dwellings have been at the center of a legal dispute between city officials and owner Dr. Milton Avol, a retired Beverly Hills neurosurgeon prosecuted a decade ago for allowing his apartment complexes in Los Angeles to fall into disrepair.

The Palmdale City Council is expected to approve a demolition contract at its meeting Wednesday, city officials said. Crews will probably begin bulldozing the vacant properties about a week later.

“There is no question that the residents would like to see these things gone,” said June Ailin, an attorney hired by the city to handle the case.

Reached at his Los Angeles office, Avol’s attorney, Paul Estuar, would not comment on the case except to say: “We are contemplating further legal action in this case. As to what that action will be, we have to decide.”

For four years, residents complained to city officials that the poorly maintained houses were a safety hazard, Ailin said. They contended that the rundown residences attracted transients, stray animals and rodents. And some of the dwellings had septic-system problems and lead-based paint.

City officials contacted Avol and requested that the houses be brought up to city building and safety code standards, Ailin said. They even let him know about a city-run neighborhood improvement program that provided financial assistance to homeowners for new sod, concrete driveways and paint.

Last year, from August to October, city officials held hearings on the matter and eventually decided to knock down the buildings.

Avol filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Dec. 15 alleging that he had been denied due process, Ailin said. The suit sought an injunction to prohibit the city from demolishing the buildings. Avol won a stay from the 2nd District Court of Appeals on Jan. 12.

However, the stay was lifted on Jan. 27 by a three-judge appellate panel, allowing the city to move forward with demolition, Ailin said.

In 1985, Avol was ordered by a judge to live in the rundown 127-unit apartment building he owned in Los Angeles. The World War I-era building, called the Rutland, had been hit with hundreds of health, fire, building and safety violations.