Red Car Property: Toilets, Bumper, Aquarium

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 15, 2017.  Neighbor reports the toilets, bumper and aquarium arrived on Lot C of the Red Car Property at India Street, as soon as the previous pile of dumping was picked up earlier this month.  They are still there now.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 15, 2017.  Perhaps the dumping would be curtailed,  if the Red Car Property was closed to all motorized vehicles, except emergency vehicles, with steel gates similar to those on every fire road in Griffith and Elysian Park.

Red Car Property: Abandoned Squatters' Camp Used Again Last Night

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017. Neighbors are fed up by the Red Car Property owner's failure to pick up the debris left behind after the squatters vacated their camp.  These photos and email (excerpted here) are from one of many concerned neighbors contacted CD13 and LAPD.  "Someone slept again last night on the old Red Car squatters encampment - I know because they left a new red blanket and new trash (see pics)."

The camp was established by a couple of squatters, mid-June.  Neighbors reported it immediately and constantly for the past few months to CD13 and LAPD.  A few weeks ago, neighbors reported the camp abandoned by the couple of squatters who had been driving a white car to and from their camp near Rose Scharlin Nursery School on a daily basis. 

Neighbors raised the concern that so much debris left behind will only attract new inhabitants.  "Does the owner really want to leave an open invitation for squatters to come live, sleep, and trash his property?"

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017.  Pictured here: dry brush right next to the campsite.  Neighbors continue raising the alarm over brush clearance.  Out of self-interest, a few neighbors cleared some of the slopes near their own homes.  "I see the [brush] clearance is still not completed, or even started (Rose Scharlin did their own hill themselves rather than wait)."  

Considering the number of cigarette butts discarded in and around the camp, neighbors are justified in their alarm.  "This is a danger to the whole neighborhood, especially with smoking squatters sleeping there."  The neighbor continues, "Does our whole neighborhood have to go up in flames before someone enforces the Brush Clearance ordinance!?!  Has LAFD even inspected this negligent property that is putting our neighborhood at risk for a catastrophic fire?"  Yes, LAFD has cited the owner several times this year.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 13, 2017.  Adding insult to injury, last night's homeless left new bags of trash.

Click here for all our squatter related posts. 

Follow us on Twitter for more timely updates on the squatter camp and brush clearance.

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-26-17 and backdated to the date the photos were shot and originally published on Twitter.

Corralitas Drive: New Homeless Camper Next To Dry Brush Of Red Car Property

*Update, August 4, 2017 at end of post

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 1, 2017.  Tuesday morning, neighbors discovered a new camper/trailer parked next to the Red Car Property on Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Video: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 1, 2017.  First posted on Twitter, also available on YouTube.  Not only is the camper parked next to the dry brush of the Red Car Property, the sidewalk is blocked, there's a propane tank in front and what appears to be a bag of charcoal briquettes at the the back of the camper (see video below).  The white Saturn parked behind the camper, is associated with the squatters who recently abandoned their camp on the Red Car Property near Rose Scharlin. 

The protected native California Black Walnut Tree has recovered well from last year's Silver Lake Fire. 

Neighbors want to know why the Red Car Property owner always seems to get away with not doing brush clearance by May 1, every year.

Send your concerns about brush clearance, vehicle access and any other concerns regarding the Red Car Property to hector.vega@lacity.org in City Council District 13.  Include your name, street address and phone number.


*UPDATE: August 4, 2017, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis spoke to the woman living in the trailer yesterday.  The trailer was gone today.

Red Car Property: Spot The Homeless Camp

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 15, 2017. Neighbors discovered a blue tent pitched among the bushes on the Red Car Property near Rose Scharlin Nursery School today.  Just past the pile of railroad ties dumped on the property behind a home on Riverside Place.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

One neighbor heard voices coming from inside the tent this morning.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 15, 2017.  Neighbors from Corralitas Drive, Riverside Place and Lake View Ave texted and emailed photos to me and CD13 today.  Neighbors are concerned about the risk of fire since brush clearance has not been done.  Homes on this part of the Red Car Property are very close together.  There are still some dead and dying Eucalyptus trees in the background of this photo, as well as a stand of arundo.  

Neighbors are also concerned due to recent mail and package theft, as well as a general increase in property related crimes in the area.  When you call the police regarding anything on the privately owned Red Car Property, you need to tell LAPD dispatch there is an active  trespass order on file at the Northeast LAPD Station or they won't respond.

Send your concerns regarding brush clearance, homeless, partying, joyriding or any other issue on the Red Car Property to hector.vega@lacity.org in CD13. 

Allesandro Street, 2 Freeway: Motor Homes, Dumping, Unwalkable Sidewalk, Dry Brush

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 11, 2017, 7 PM.  Two motor homes without license plates have been parked on Allesandro Street just south of Rosebud Ave, attracting dumping.(Click on photo to enlarge.)

This portion of Allesandro to Riverside Drive was a part of a "No Overnight Parking Zone," but the signs directly across from the controversial Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract 15-lot subdivision mysteriously disappeared when it was under construction.

Neither the City nor CalTrans takes care of the sidewalk adjacent to the 2 Freeway.  But then, it's not a real sidewalk, despite the City building ADA compliant ramps at all the intersections on Allesandro in the 1990s.  It's still a narrow strip of asphalt in a curb.  The lack of street addresses prevent all but the most persistent neighbors from getting dumping removed by the City.  Weeds, trash, dumping and telephone poles blocking the extremely narrow sidewalk are a challenge for any pedestrian.

CalTrans insists the "sidewalks" adjacent their freeways are the City's responsibility.  If homeowners are supposed to maintain the sidewalk adjacent to their homes, shouldn't CalTrans have the same responsibility? 

Wonder if CalTrans will be doing the brush clearance up on their parkway since it can no longer be seen from the northbound 2 Freeway due to the sound wall.

Red Car Property: Dumping, Weeds at India Street Entrance

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. The Red Car Property remains a lawless place.  The brush is dry and the dumping fresh at India Street.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor April 28, 2017.  Chairs and other debris are among the dumping.  If it is a resident, let's hope they requested a bulky item pick-up via the City's MyLA311, or it may take a while to get picked up.

On a positive note, the large opuntia cactus (on the slope) has recovered from 5 years of unprecedented drought. The mature cactus is good defensive landscaping for its drought tolerance, fire resistance and crime deterrence.   Plant it near windows and along fence lines.  

Deadline for brush clearance is May 1, every year.  That slope is on Red Car Property, Lot C at India Street.
 

Red Car Property: Drywall Pile On Lot C Now Protected By Riverside Drive Developer's Fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 21, 2017.  If you're going to fence in property that isn't yours and put in plumbing, then pick up the pile of drywall, first dumped in January 2016.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In January this year, the drywall pile was still outside the construction fence for the Riverside Drive development that was put up on the Red Car Property last fall.

At least those 3 trees are still alive.  Wonder how many more native trees they cut down.
 

Red Car Property: Lot C Neighbors Tired Of Dumping

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 17, 2017.  A new sign showed up on a fence on Lot C of the Red Car Property, north of India Street before the construction fence.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 17, 2017.  "No Dumping, Trash, This is NOT Your House!!!!!"  Of course the  "fence" is about 20 - 30 feet over the property line on the Red Car Property's Lot C.  

Homes on this downslope side of the Red Car Property front on Riverside Drive.

Red Car Property: Mudwatch Lot C

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 5, 2017.  The fence blocking the walkable portion of the Red Car Property for the Riverside Drive construction site, also crosses the vernal pool on Lot C, forcing pedestrians up the slippery slope to access the portion of the trail the developer left open to the public.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The pile of drywall debris dumped a year ago remains to the right side of the frame. But look, through butchered trees, you can see Griffith Park.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 5, 2017.  The flat portion, where cars are parked, is the Red Car Property.  It is not a public road, nor is it even a public right of way.  To make it a private street, it would require a discretionary action by City Planning.  The upslope side is also Red Car Property.  It is well documented as the most crumbly slope on the property.  The side where most of the cars are parked, is where neighbors have encroached onto the Red Car Property by 20' or more.

See also: Vernal Pool on Lot C on October 14, 2009

Lot C: The More Things Change...

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2016.  Arrow is pointing to drywall dumped in January, still on Red Car Property's Lot C in June, along with the guy living in the truck, and the tidied and migrating piles of debris.  The trees benefited from a reasonable amount of rain last winter.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 2, 2016.  Last week, neighbors said a couple of guys, joined by the LAPD, paid a visit to the guy living in the white truck.  Later the same day, he and his truck were gone.  The pile of drywall, now a moldy mess, is still there.  

The trees were trimmed badly.  I wouldn't expect that pine tree to make it though an earthquake or a massive rainstorm.  That type of pine tree tends to lean, but poor trimming will hasten its demise.  All of the trees in this shot are on the Red Car Property, including some protected California Black Walnuts.  According to the architect of the Riverside Drive Lots, they have permission from Red Car Property owner to place the fence and, apparently, butcher the trees.  The Red Car Property extends about 20' downslope, to the right of the plywood fence.

Photo enlarged from previous shot.  Maybe in another 20 years the drywall will biodegrade. 

Red Car Property: Fence, Water Lines, Suspicious Neighbors

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016.  When water lines crossed the Red Car Property, yet another neighbor texted photos and suspicions of the Riverside Drive developer of who appeared to take a very large portion of the Red Car Property in the past week.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016.  I spoke to the architect for the Riverside Drive project (between Gilroy and Clearwater) on September 23. I asked him to clear the path adjacent the fence, since he claimed we could still walk through.  (He also hoped the fence would stop people from dumping.  The photo above indicates otherwise.)

The photos and reports I'd received from neighbors, said it was very difficult to walk through due to the heavy build up of trampled dry brush and castor beans.  It was a fire hazard.  I had already sent the photos of the fence to the Red Car Property owner's rep, asking when brush clearance would be done, since this is the start Santa Ana Wind season.  Brush clearance happened the next day.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016.  The architect claimed the water lines are temporary for the trees and other landscaping they will plant on the Red Car Property slope.  The Red Car Property actually extends 20-30  feet downslope.  

The fence to the right of the formerly most beautiful protected native Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property  was placed by a previous Riverside Drive lot owner in an attempt at extending their backyard.

I questioned the Riverside Drive project architect's agreement with the Red Car Property owner.  He seems to be doing what everyone else has done throughout the years, counting on the fact the Red Car Property is very hard to develop and hopefully the trees won't get taken out by future development on the Red Car Property.  He said they would maintain and water the newly planted trees on the Red Car Property for 2 years.  I asked if there was an agreement in writing.  He failed to answer.

Worth noting, cultivated trees (planted in a landscape project) are not protected by the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016.  Last weekend people panicked when brush clearance was finally done on the upslope side,  between the fence and homes on Adelbert.  

The Riverside Drive architect swears they will not be using the fenced portion of the Red Car Property for grading, hauling, staging, storing  or for deliveries for anything other than landscape related to planting the the slope. Nor are they building the Red Car Property.   The fence seems a bit of overkill for a fence to keep out dumping and to keep people off their plantings.  He claims to have an agreement with the Red Car Property owner.  The Red Car Property owner's rep did not reply to questions regarding this agreement.
 

Red Car Property: Not A Park, Not A Road

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 30, 2016.  The Red Car Property is not a public road despite several mapping services identifying it as "Silver Lake Court."  Silver Lake Court does not extend this far.  It is a land locked paper street that has never been built, existing only on City maps, only connecting to two public staircases, Roselin and Silver Lake Ave.  Silver Lake Court does not intersect India Street.

Neighbors report trucks for the 13 Riverside Drive lots currently being graded (off camera to the right), were driving on and off the Red Car Property last week.  If you live off the Red Car Property, on Riverside, Adelbert or India St (east of the Red Car Property) and are seeing a number of trucks using the Red Car Property for access to 2344-2424 Riverside Drive, report it to Building & Safety.  This is not an acceptable "haul route."

Worth noting in the lower right corner of the above photo: the blue bin of trash has been migrating around Lot C of the Red Car Property for quite some time.

2 Freeway: CalTrans Picked Up Trash

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 25, 2016.  A CalTrans crew picked up trash the CalTrans crew of tree trimmers left behind last week.  The neighbor said in a text "There were CalTrans people all over the bottom of the hill, along the highway and under the bridge [Rosebud] cleaning and working when I left this morning. "

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 20, 2016.  Remarkably, the Silver Lake Fire, which burned most of the 2 Freeway parkways between the Red Car Property and Riverside Drive, did not burn this part of the parkway from Rosebud & Allesandro to Riverside Drive where the Brazillian Pepper Trees were a pretty solid wall of green.  Neighbors were sad to see the green go last week.  CalTrans left the first enormous Eucalyptus in this shot, the same tree is still standing in the first photo.  It is the tree where the Red Tailed Hawks have a nest near the top third of the tree.  The hawks returned with fledglings to the nest on the night of the fire. 
 

2 Freeway: CalTrans Butchers Trees, Leaves Piles Of Trash

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 15, 2016.  CalTrans began cutting down Brazilian Pepper Trees on the northbound lanes of the 2 Freeway that were NOT burned by the Silver Lake Fire on June 19, 2016, yet left the load of trash on the slope.  For scale - that retaining wall along Allesandro Street is about 6 feet tall.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It should come as no surprise that CalTrans removed the trees northeast of the Rosebud Overpass at Allesandro.  I had to call their government relations flak shortly after the fire to ensure he was aware the giant tree where the Red Tail Hawks nest (the first large tree on the left) was not even scorched in the fire.  At the time,  he was not sure if the tree was destined for removal.  Trees were evaluated by CalTrans tree experts and biologists. 

A month ago, the CalTrans rep told me they would be removing trees that were a danger to their roads and drivers.  They are not in the landscape business, it is not their job to make make it attractive for neighbors.  (Mitigations for living next to a freeway be damned.)  In the past few weeks, neighbors alerted the tree removal crews to the longstanding hawk nest as well.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 15, 2016.  If you look closely in this section alone, there appear to be at least 3 clumps of Brazilian Pepper Trees removed.  As of today, the trash was still there.  We don't know what was under the sawdust.  

CalTrans will not be planting new trees. 

August 22, 2016, UPDATE: A neighbor forwarded a service request sent to CalTrans to pick up the trash on the 2 Freeway.  You can file service requests on CalTrans' website.

Red Car Property: New Park Bench

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 5, 2016.  The City will not pick up dumping from the Red Car Property.  It's not a park, it just looks like one.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

However, as you sit on the new bench, notice the dry brush still has not been cleared except where neighbors have cleared it back from their fences.  Bamboo, arundo and dry pine trees are on the Lake View side of the Red Car Property.  All three are highly combustible and have no business being so close to homes. In the distance, in the canyon, you can see the tops of dead eucalyptus trees, also highly combustible. 

Large 6 to 8 inch long burning embers blew through this corridor during the Silver Lake Fire on June 19, 2016.  Neighbors as far north as India Street and Roselin, just off the Red Car Property, reported seeing the embers fly past their homes.  We were very lucky indeed.

Red Car Property Lot C: That's "C" As In Crap

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 22, 2016.  The large pile of dumped drywall remains where it was dumped  on the Red Car Property's Lot C (north of India) in January 2016.  It's been joined by a weight bench and other dumping that has been shifting around this portion of Lot C for months.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 21, 2016.  The drywall pile has gotten larger since we first published it.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 8, 2016.  The piles of dumping seem to get cleaned up periodically, but the drywall has remained constant.  We get tired of being the Red Car Property dumping blog, so we send the photos on to the property owner's rep as we receive them and consolidate them for posting in a periodic dumping wrap-up.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 8, 2016.  It appears that someone is still living in the Toyota truck too.

Click here for all our dumping posts.

Red Car Property Lot C: Vernal Pool & Dumping

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer March 6, 2016.  With just over an inch of rain overnight Saturday into Sunday, the vernal pool on Lot C, north of India Street, stretches nearly across the entire  path. If the rain hits as expected Monday - Tuesday, we might have a tough time navigating this body of water on foot.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, March 6, 2016.  The piles of dumping, trash and construction debris make it tough to go around vernal pool on the side of the path closest to Riverside Drive. The City does not pick up dumping from private property.

For more timely updates on storm related happenings, follow us on Twitter: @RedCarProperty

Red Car Property, Lot C: Migrating Piles Of Dumping

Photos: Multiple Red Car Property Neighbors.  Above, March 3, 2016.  Over the past two months, a large pile of clothes, bedding, broken plastic bins, computer parts, monitors, TV parts, washing machine drums and other trash has been shifting back and forth on Lot C, near a Riverside Drive house and lot that had squatter problems.  The house has been under renovations for almost a year.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

January 9, 2016.  We  documented the pile when it first arrived after the New Year.  Previously it was just washing machines, salvage and other construction debris.  December 3, 2015 was the last time the Red Car Property was clean right here.  It has always been a dumping hotspot.

January 21, 2016. The trash was consolidated and generally tidied up a few days earlier.

January 21, 2016.  How considerate, they tidied up the trash and dumped a large pile of drywall. 

January 30, 2016.  By the end of January, little had changed, although it appears either animals or people had torn through the trash.  We were tired of posting so many dumping photos on the blog, but we continued sending them to the Red Car Property owner's rep.

Photo: January 30, 2016.  A squatter is living in the white truck that's been parked on Lot C on the Red Car Property for years.  We sent this photo and others along to the Red Car Property owner's rep as soon as they came in.  The truck is still parked in the same place today.   
It is parked directly adjacent to the downslope portion of Lot C, where the adjacent property owner has long encroached on the Red Car Property by storing salvage and debris.

February 19, 2016.  Last month, the trash pile was shifted over to the side with the drywall pile.  Looks like some new graffiti is on the white door being stored back there.  What have we always said about broken windows inviting more problems?

February 19, 2016. The trash in this shot is also in the current photo at the top of this post.  Although someone nabbed the shoes. 

Come on, the homeless have already picked through it.  Haul it away.  The drywall is still there, it's just hiding behind the trashcans.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)


Click here for all our dumping posts.

Red Car Property: Spring Green

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, February 19, 2016.  The not so fondly named "dishwasher tree" is fully green again after a very short winter.

It's sad when you mark the seasons by the dumping photos.  Just a month ago when the dumping was picked up, the same tree had no leaves as it was winter.  It only dropped them mid-December.  The tree's leaves were starting to turn yellow for fall in November, but then we'd had 3" of rain in September.  The dumping accumulated since October.  

Soon it will be spring cleaning time again.

Red Car Property In 2009: Dumping Repurposed Into Traffic Calming Device

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 22, 2009.  Neighbors occasionally resort to creative ways to get the dumping picked up on the Red Car Property.  A couch was dumped near Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School in October 2008.  Months later, someone dragged it out into the middle of the pathway.  It was picked up a few days later.

Worth noting: we got a lot of rain in 2009.  The protected native Black Walnut Trees were super lush on either side of the trail.