Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 17, 2008. 2467 Corralitas Drive and the Corralitas Public Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Neighbors are waiting to see how long the Corralitas Staircase will hold up since heavy rains are not being diverted from the Corralitas Pits of Doom.
You may remember, the Pits of Doom were revealed by a neighbor who discovered his missing dog at the bottom of one of the 8' deep pits adjacent to the Corralitas public staircase. (Luckily, his dog was OK.) A thin blue tarp was the only protection from the potential death traps. Apparently, a retaining wall and support columns were planned, but never completed.
City Council District 13 immediately alerted Building & Safety, who ordered the property owner to cover the pits appropriately. They did and now the slope is not protected against rain. If you enlarge the photo above, you can see where the slope is beginning to fail midway up the cut. The staircase has been shifting since the hillside was cut into for construction in 2006.
The same developer not only gave us Corralitas Pits of Doom, but also ugly rooftops and an illegal billboard. What a great neighbor.UPDATE 12-24-08: Got the following email from CD13 today...
"Senior Inspector has assessed that the staircase has been failing for many years in a gradual process. There are patches that are also slowly failing. They feel the stairs will remain usable for many more years. However, the excavation for the retaining wall close by is lacking a required protection fence and LADBS is processing a correction notice for a fence and erosion control measures."
UPDATE 1-26-09: Got word from CD13, per the grading inspector, that the property owner obtained a permit to build a retaining wall at the Pits of Doom on January 20, 2009.
UPDATE 10-14-09: No action was ever taken by B&S and the Pits of Doom remain covered only by rotting plywood. Neighbors think the staircase shifted has shifted further in the past few months.
