Neighbors Protest Caltrans’ Use of Houses as Temporary Offices

There goes the neighborhood.

That pretty much sums up John Kvammen’s thoughts when Caltrans ran out of money to rehabilitate dozens of historic houses it owns along the proposed Long Beach Freeway extension in Pasadena.

Transients soon started breaking into the homes, as well as youngsters looking to party.

Well, at least it couldn’t get much worse, Kvammen figured.

But this month Kvammen and other Pasadena residents noticed a steady flow of Caltrans cars appearing outside some of the state-owned homes.

Instead of renting out its houses as it had promised, the California Department of Transportation is using some as offices. Why? Because the state fire marshal in July declared the agency’s Los Angeles office an overcrowded fire hazard.

Judy Gish, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said two department-owned houses are “being utilized temporarily as offices.” She said Caltrans District 7’s Los Angeles headquarters is being retrofitted, with work expected to take three months. About 650 employees were sent to various locations while work continues.

Caltrans has acquired more than 585 buildings since the 1950s along the proposed freeway route through Pasadena, South Pasadena and El Sereno. Protracted legal and political battles have stalled construction of the extension.

After a public outcry in 1995 over Caltrans allowing the houses to fall into disrepair, the agency began rehabilitating the homes, especially historic Victorian houses and other landmark properties.

The goal was to make all homes, historic or not, available for renters, not to turn them into offices.

“It’s illegal for Caltrans to use homes as offices. They aren’t commercial buildings,” said Kvammen, who rents a house from Caltrans on St. Johns Avenue. “All the houses should be rented out.”

Chris Sutton, an attorney who has represented Caltrans renters in previous suits, said state law compels the agency to comply with local zoning. “The city needs to step up to the plate and enforce that residential zoning on these homes,” he said.

Pasadena officials say Caltrans has informed them that three houses are serving as offices for as many as 20 employees.

Councilman Steve Madison, who represents the area, said Caltrans was planning to move 60 to 70 workers into several houses until the city objected.

The complaints over the offices are just the latest headache for Caltrans officials overseeing the houses.

Agency officials had hoped to make all 92 historic houses habitable, pending a decision on the freeway’s fate. Most of those houses would be spared because of a narrowing of the freeway “footprint.” Some are to be relocated or torn down.

A state audit revealed last year, however, that the agency spent its entire allocation--nearly $20 million--to rehabilitate only 39 of the 92 houses.

Caltrans requested an additional $22 million to complete the task, but has been unable to secure the money. Gish said the agency plans to ask the California Transportation Commission for funding once again.

The vandalism of Caltrans homes has been a sore point for neighbors.

“The house next door to me has been broken into on several occasions. A police officer told me the house wasn’t secure,” said Lyn Miller, a Caltrans renter. “Vandals and homeless people know the homes are available.”

Miller said she and others are becoming concerned about walking in their neighborhood after dark.

Councilman Madison, who lives near the houses, said that, until recently, Caltrans wouldn’t cooperate in prosecuting trespassers.

Some of those trespassers have been quite bold. “I saw one place where a guy was carrying in a TV,” Kvammen said.

Kvammen and others say the city is nearly as much to blame as Caltrans for the problems with the houses.

The city, a group of Caltrans renters allege, is failing to adequately inspect the properties for code violations.

Jennifer Wood, a Caltrans tenant, complained to the Pasadena City Council on Monday night that she never received a copy of an inspection report after a code enforcement officer found violations at her house. Without the report, she said, she was unable to challenge a rent increase with Caltrans.

Caltrans officials have long insisted that local governments have no jurisdiction over the state’s property.

But George Chapjian, Pasadena’s head of code enforcement, said that if Caltrans fails to heed a tenant’s complaint, the city will inspect the house for code violations. In recent months the city has directed the agency to repair two homes.

Attorney Sutton, however, said that does not amount to the same enforcement that a private landlord faces. Caltrans, he said, “should be treated like any other slumlord.”