Red Car Property: Mudwatch Near Adelbert

Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor January 16, 2023.

Another predictable mudslide is below properties on Adelbert Ave, flowing down the Red Car Property.  This Red Car Property slope was stabilized and restored in 2009, after a 2005 slide.

Lesson: plant these slopes with native trees to help hold them together.  At least toss some found acorns on the slope from the nearby Coast Live Oak or Black Walnuts from the once plentiful natives adjacent Adelbert. just north of this location. And stop clear cutting young native trees which do repopulate slopes.

This crumbling slope and mudslide is in the same stretch on the Red Car Property's Lot C.  The same craftsman home is in both photos.
 

Red Car Canyon: Mudwatch for Lake View Ave

Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 12, 2023.  

Around the 6” of rain earlier this week brought predictable mudslides and a downed tree just north of the mudslide on the Lake View Ave side of Red Car Canyon.  This slope is Red Car Property up to the fence line.  There are public utility  easements along the property line.

The Red Car Property owner chopped down all the young trees on this slope and throughout the property without regard to size or species. There were a number of young protected Coast Live Oak and California Black Walnut trees that managed to recover from the 2016 fire.  While this slope did not burn it was severely damaged by the heat.  

Most of the shrub-like plants in the above photo are remnants of trees that keep trying grow back every year after brush clearance.  I speculate the total disregard for hillside ecosystems is intentional, as it is common developer tactic to kill off as many trees as possible through neglect or removal in advance of development application.  

Over 30 years, we’ve seen the slope slide below and around the sewer outlet (the round concrete feature topped with green spray paint, adjacent the large tree at the fence line in photo).

In recent years, City contractors replaced sewer lines in the slope along the property line between the Red Car Property and homes above on Lake View.

In 2009 the Red Car Property owner repaired a  2005 landslide on the Adelbert end of the Red Car Property. 

It is a very steep slope cut for the Red Car Trolley in 1904.  Since the tracks were removed in 1955, a forest of trees repopulated the slope.  

2 Freeway at Corralitas Drive: Luckily, Car Crash Did Not Ignite A Fire

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 15, 2020, 1:34 AM.  "Must you crash outside my bedroom window? Must you and the police and tow guy yell to each other? Must you?"

Neighbors of the 2 Freeway between the 5 Freeway and the 2 Freeway Terminus at Glendale Blvd have heard many high speed crashes and seen the aftermath. Fortunately, this crash did not ignite the dry brush on the southbound 2 Freeway  adjacent to Corralitas Drive.

Request brush clearance or other maintenance issues on CalTrans property (on the freeway side of the fence) on the State's website: https://csr.dot.ca.gov/

Corralitas Drive: Construction Hours Until 9PM Monday Through Friday?!

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, November 21, 2017.  Construction notice is posted at 2608-2610 Corralitas Drive.  Two single family homes are approved for the site situated on a blind hairpin curve adjacent to the Corralitas Public Staircase.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Why does the City allow construction activity in a hillside neighborhood with substandard Hillside streets until 9PM?  

The likely answer is to allow extra time for DIY homeowners who don't have time during weekdays to work on their own homes.  But that is a completely different situation than new home construction or permit-triggering renovations.  

Most construction sites don't work past 6 PM on Corralitas Drive, but why is it even allowed?  Considering parking, limited access and heavy evening traffic on residential Hillside streets in any zone, this is absurd.  Multi-family zoned Hillside streets are even more congested and have bigger parking problems than R1 Hillside neighborhoods.  

If it falls within the Hillside Area, no matter the zone, construction should only be allowed until 6 or 7 PM, M-F.  It doesn't even benefit developers if they have to stop work, move trucks, fences and equipment every time people try to drive up the hill.  

Why is construction allowed on all national holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day?!  Neighbors of this site report the developer will be drilling holes with heavy equipment on Thanksgiving.  No grading, hauling, deliveries or heavy equipment use, associated with construction permits, should be allowed on residential Hillside streets on Saturdays or national holidays. This should include any site where vehicle access is via residential Hillside streets.

Corralitas Drive has suffered through construction of 11 lots in the past 27 years, this is now the 12th.  Yet another duplex has been proposed for another lot on the street.  The fastest site took 18 months to build by developers who knew what they were doing in Hillside.  The longest was 5 years.  Corralitas Drive is not a through street and does not have regulation sized cul-de-sacs.  Weekend construction with heavy equipment and deliveries is not worthwhile.

You can file complaints about violations like failure to adequately control fugitive dust, equipment stored in the street or on sidewalks, blocking the street and public staircases, dangerous conditions, damage to adjacent property on Building & Safety's (LADBS) website. 

Neighbors should save the phone number of Parking Enforcement (LADOT) to their phone: (818) 374-4823 

Red Car Property Neighborhood: Signs Of The Times

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017.  Last week, LA City Fire Department began posting "No Smoking, No Discarding of Burning Objects" signs in the Hillside Area surrounding the Red Car Property and Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract (above photo at Allesandro and Rosebud - the sole vehicle entrance to the steep Semi Tropic hillside).

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017.  The municipal code sections are referenced on the signs, here seen at the site of the 2016 Silver Lake Fire at the end of Corralitas Drive.  The LAFD has the authority to place these signs in Hillside Areas. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 15, 2017.  While brush may be cleared in many of the areas now, brush is often often dry for months before it is cleared.   Neighbors who've seen the same signs all over the Hollywood Hills for decades, noted their more recent proliferation in Beachwood Canyon and requested the signs for our neighborhood.  Several neighbors provided a list of suggested locations to the LAFD fire marshal overseeing the placement of the signs.

Photo: Jay Lieske, September 23, 2017.  Indeed, the fire marshal compared parts of our  neighborhood to neighborhoods in the Hollywood Hills.  We have many isolated areas like this one on Adelbert, right up against brush areas on narrow winding Hillside streets with no through traffic, in addition to public staircases and paper streets that are hidden and open to the Red Car Property.

Neighbors welcomed the signs as a reminder we live in a tinder dry hillside neighborhood.  Neighbors hope the signs get the attention of smokers who carelessly discard their cigarettes in dry brush areas.  At least one neighbor documented discarded cigarettes in parts of the neighborhood in the request for signs.  Neighbors noted areas where partying, homeless camps and squatter houses have attracted problems.  

I've asked for these signs for 25 years.  I'm grateful to the Red Car Property Neighbor who was able to devote time and energy into spearheading this project to making it a reality. 

Corralitas Drive: Hillside Parking

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, September 13, 2017.  Ever notice cars parked this way never seem to get ticketed nor crashed into by large trucks?  Be a good neighbor and park courteously. 

You can report parking violations to the City Dept of Transportation (LA DOT): 818-374-4823.

Corralitas RedCar Property: Why We Bitch About Brush Clearance

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  A number of neighbors were very concerned about a newer red pick up truck suspiciously parked in the middle of the dry grass on the Red Car Property for hours, earlier tonight.  Brush has yet to be cleared from the Red Car Property.  There is nothing preventing vehicles from driving onto the Red Car Property. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  Several neighbors called LAPD's non-emergency 1-877-ASK-LAPD.  At least one stayed on hold for an hour before giving up.  However, it only made neighbors more creative.  They shined lights on the truck, annoying the people inside, and the truck finally took off.

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 photo was shot and originally published on Twitter.

Corralitas Red Car Property: Why Are LAFD Brush Clearance Fines The Same, No Matter The Size Of Your Lot?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  Neighbors are understandably nervous about fire on the Red Car Property. Weeds are taller and more dense than before the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  Most  of the protected native Coast Live Oaks and California Black Walnuts are returning to the slopes.  Looks like there are still a few upslope neighbors on Lake View who still have not done their brush clearance.  You'd think after last summer's fire, they'd be the first to do brush clearance.  But then no one can believe the Red Car Property owner hasn't done the brush clearance yet.  

Perhaps part of the problem is the fines for failing to do brush clearance are the same - no matter what size lot you have - 5000 sq feet or 5 acres.  The fine from LAFD is per lot, not per square foot. You still have to pay for brush clearance, but you'd have to pay for brush clearance, whether or not you did it on time.  

Raise the potential fines for non-compliance on the large lot owners to encourage prompt brush clearance.  Track the non-compliant lot owners every year.  Each year the lot is fined for non-compliance, increase their penalties.   Prioritize the routine scofflaws.  

There is no incentive for large lot owners to take responsibility for their own property.  LAFD has the potential to bring in more fees from fining up to 135 adjacent lots, than from the 5 (or 6 according to APNs) lots of the Red Car Property.  There's not a lot of impetus for LAFD to red tag the Red Car Property owner, other than a fire starting  on or spreading via the Red Car Property, would endanger the whole neighborhood.   In 2016, 200 firefighters, wildland fire crews and a massive air assault (water dropping helicopters from at least 3 agencies) kept the 2016 Silver Lake Fire from becoming a major disaster. 

A neighbor ran into the LAFD Brush Inspector on site July 28, 2017.  The inspector said another notice to comply would be mailed to the owner. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  The Red Car Property goes up to the telephone poles running across the middle of the slope.  In some cases the adjacent property owners cleared well beyond their property line.  

Unfortunately, last December, LAFD Brush Clearance contractors also took out a lot of native Black Walnuts when they did clearance.  Some very native large trees on this slope were cut down to the ground, even though they were recovering.  Most of the walnuts are recovering are coming back despite the butchery (the green shrub like plants midway up the slope on the left.)  There was no need to cut them down as they were already recovering from the fire.  Native trees are fire resistant.

Related: 
LAFD Brush Inspection Process 
All our brush clearance posts

Riverside Drive: Closed For Repaving This Weekend

Map from Dept of Public Works.  

I got a confusing Media Advisory from the Dept of Public Works this week re: repaving and road closure of Riverside Drive.  Their map and the text of the advisory did not match up.  

Hector Vega in CD13 contacted me to clarify: they're repaving Riverside Drive between Newell and Birkdale.  Birkdale is just north of Dorris Place Elementary in the southern part of Elysian Valley.  

Vega said Public Works will be working north to south, Saturday and south to north, Sunday.  They will be scraping then paving 6 AM to 6PM.

Neighbors who live on Riverside Drive, Riverside Terrace, Riverside Place, Silver Lake Ave and India Street who only have vehicle access via Riverside Drive, as well as Corralitas Drive residents should plan extra time into your driving this weekend.   Residents will be able to take Riverside Drive, but plan ahead.  

Do NOT use the Red Car Property as a short cut.  Brush clearance has NOT been done yet.  Please do NOT cut through residential streets in Elysian Valley.

The Dodgers are NOT at home this weekend.  The project was postponed once due to Dodgers' schedule.

Red Car Canyon: Neighbors Call Police On Suspicious Jaguar Convertible

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, August 1, 2017.  Neighbors called police upon finding an abandoned green Jaguar convertible.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Longtime neighbors recognize the signs of a suspected stolen car: serious front end damage, punched trunk lock (see last  photo), flat tire, car abandoned in a totally inappropriate place for cars to drive on the property.  However, according to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis, as of 8:30 AM the car was not reported stolen.  

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, August 1, 2017.  Apparently the car was stuck on one of the many cut up logs surrounding the Charles Lacey Memorial.  On more than one occasion, Red Car Property neighbors reported an  abandoned car prior to the car owner learning his car was stolen.  Neighbors saw the driver of the Jaguar attempting to extricate the car from its sticky predicament around 6:30 PM last night.

In 2016, the Silver Lake Fire burned right up to homes in this canyon before a massive effort by LAFD and partner agencies stopped it. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, #3, August 1, 2017.  Neighbors are particularly nervous about vehicles driving on the Red Car Property since the dry brush has not yet been cleared from the property.  A hot engine parked on dry grass or a rock hitting metal under a car driving on the property can spark a fire. 

We have long advocated for installation of heavy steel gates (similar to gates at the entrance to every fire road in Griffith and Elysian Parks) blocking all vehicle access except for emergency vehicles.  LAFD has requirements for "security gates" posted on their website.

Link to video of Jaguar showing the extent of the dry brush in this location.

Click here for all our suspected stolen cars posts.

Red Car Property North: Still Needs Brush Clearance

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017. The grass is dry and mostly mashed down but not cleared between the construction fence and Fletcher on the Red Car Property.  Protected native Black Walnuts are repopulating the slope.  A number of trees died after five years of drought.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  The Red Car Property is between Riverside Drive and Fletcher and Adelbert Ave.  Adelbert is a substandard Hillside Street with a number of hairpin turns to reach Lake View Ave.  It has only one means of access.  We don't know why Adelbert is not a Red Flag No Parking street.

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  A year ago, the construction site on Riverside Drive, directly below the Red Car Property, took a lot of the Red Car Property with their construction fence, in addition to clear cutting trees on the Red Car Property.  This is the pedestrian path they left us.  Last year, their agreement with the property owner was to do the brush clearance on both sides of their fence.

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  The construction site appears to have done brush clearance on the portion of the Red Car Property behind their fence.  It also looks like a few native trees are returning and recovering to the flat portion of the Red Car Property above the construction site.

Neighbors have expressed concerns that the native saplings and recovering native trees should be preserved as the brush clearance contractors are not known for their care with young trees.  

As with other parts of the Red Car Property, neighbors want to know why the property owner is allowed to get away with not doing brush clearance by May 1, every year?

Click here for all our brush clearance posts.

Red Car Property: Squatters' Camp Today

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 20, 2017.  Early this morning, the tent is gone, but the camp, still there.  It first appeared behind homes on Riverside Place and behind Rose Scharlin Co-op Nursery School more than a month ago.  

Since it first appeared, neighbors have been calling the police asking them to enforce the trespass order.  Unfortunately, the squatters never seem to be home when the LAPD drops by.  Silver Lake LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis spoke to the property owner's son regarding removing the camp earlier this week.  CD13 notified the property owner of the camp last month.  It is the property owner's responsibility.  But then, it's also the property owner's responsibility to do brush clearance by May 1, every year.

Click here for all our squatter posts.

Red Car Canyon: Chainsaws, Dry Brush, Dead Trees, Power Lines, What Could Go Wrong?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, July 17, 2017.  Around 10 AM the sound of chainsaws echoed through Red Car Canyon.  Luckily, there was no accidental sparking of fire. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Red Car Property Neighbor #1 documented the canyon's dry brush on video (posted on our Twitter feed) with the sound of chainsaws grinding away in the background.  The video missed the tree going down, however the neighbor witnessed it happen, texting, "This guy chopped down a dead tree and NARROWLY MISSED THE POWER LINES." 

With so much dry brush on the Red Car Property, neighbors are always on fire watch and alert to potential hazards.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, July 6, 2017.  We  published this photo last week.  Here, the photo is enlarged, with arrows added showing the location of the two dead trees that died prior to, but were also burned in the 2016 fire.  They appear to be on Lake View Ave lots near the power lines. The smaller of the two trees is the one Red Car Property Neighbor #1 witnessed falling to a chainsaw today. However, because the property lines have an odd arrangement right about there, it's hard to tell which lot the trees are on from the photos.

AT&T has been doing work on their lines on the telephone poles on the slope.  LADWP trimmed trees in April.  We were surprised DWP left the larger of the two trees, considering we'd had two fires in less than two years on the same slope. 

We know LAFD cited the Red Car Property owner as well as adjacent property owners who had not done their brush clearance.  Deadline for at least one adjacent property owner to comply with brush clearance was July 16, 2017.  According to the LAFD website, The Red Car Property owner was sent notice twice, and they failed to meet their compliance date of June 28, 2017.  

Since the first week of May, neighbors have been reminding LAFD Brush Unit and CD13, brush clearance had not been done on the Red Car Property.  We wonder when the property will be red tagged.  But it's not like the Red Car Property owner hasn't ignored the red tags for many years.  Even after last year's fire, they ignored the LAFD red tag order to comply.  LAFD brush clearance contractors cleared the property in December. 

Click here for all our brush clearance posts.

Corralitas Drive: Urban Skunk Kits Making Themselves At Home

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #1, July 11, 2017. A neighbor, upon turning on the bathroom light at 3 AM, was surprised to find a young skunk asleep in the  bathtub.  The neighbor has no idea how it got into the tub.  It made it self quite at home on a washcloth and left its calling cards near its "bed."

The neighbor surmised the young skunk came in earlier in the evening, while the door was open and fan on.  It must have wandered in and seeking relief from the relentless heatwave, found its way into the cool bathtub.  "Actually, it seemed totally content and not at all agitated by my presence." 

As for removing the skunk, the neighbor continued, "I got two large old beach towels, put on my gardening gloves and dropped the towels over it and quickly wrapped them around and carried it out the back door and by that time there was definitely a skunk odor in the towels. I loosened the towels and came back inside. End of story. I now use my fire screen in the door when I leave it open." 

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor #2, July 7, 2017.  At least one skunk kit has a taste for the plentiful rubber tree fruit around the yard.  

A Corralitas neighbor sees the baby skunks pass through the yard daily.  At least one skunk kit, or as the neighbor refers to them, "skitten" routinely pauses at the open door looking to be invited in (not going to happen).  The neighbor's cats are so complacent, "they don't even growl when the kits come by, let alone when the skunks try to come in the door!"

The other day, I got a text from Corralitas Neighbor #2, who was lying on the couch with the door open in the midday heat.  The neighbor "felt a very smooth little tongue licking her big toe."  Knowing it wasn't a cat or dog, she looked down and was surprised to see a skunk kit kissing her toe.  Unfortunately, the neighbor couldn't reach her cell phone to shoot a photo without standing up.  At which point the little skunk kit made a hasty retreat for the door.  The skitten was really sucking up in the hope of some relief from the heat.  

The same neighbor has told skunks trying to enter the house, in a calm voice, "No, no, no you can't come in.  Away with you."  The skunks go without argument. Sometimes you have to get up slowly and walk calmly toward the skunk while telling them, in a calm voice, to leave.  Skunks don't see well.  As long as you stay calm and make no sudden movements, they have no need to spray. 

No, neither neighbor feeds their pets outside.  Nor do they leave food around.  The rubber tree fruit attracts all types of urban wildlife.  It's hard to control the rubber tree fruit, even if you sweep daily.  If there is food a skunk wants, it will do almost anything to get to it.  I've seen skunks move rocks significantly larger than themselves, in broad daylight, to get into a yard.  I've also watched them squeeze through a single chain link in a fence (skunks are mostly fur).   

If wildlife wants to use your yard as a thoroughfare, it's not worth the trouble of trying to stop them.  Skunks and raccoons will move rocks and big pots, dig up plants, dig under fences to get back on their routine path.  It's better to find a way to coexist with them so you know where they come through the fence rather than be surprised in the middle of the night.  Jade plants are resilient enough to place near openings in the fence where urban wildlife insists on using a path. 

Don't feed your pets outside.  Keep your all your pets' vaccinations up to date.  Do not attempt to feed or pet wildlife.  Be sure you throw away any and all food trash (like from a BBQ or fruit fallen from trees) directly into a the large City trash bin and be sure the lid is tightly closed. 

Additionally, it is a myth that seeing a skunk in the daylight means it's sick or injured.  Corralitas skunks are out in the middle of the day.  We see them frequently, even when the dog is in the yard.  

Click here for all our skunk posts.

Corralitas Drive: Who Needs An Alarm Clock When You've Got Juvenile Hawks?

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, July 10, 2017.  Like clockwork, at dawn, one of the recently fledged Red Tailed Hawks calls to be fed from just outside a Corralitas neighbor's window.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Another Corralitas neighbor named one of the juveniles, Rodan, for its constant calling starting at dawn and continuing for hours.  

The Red Tailed Hawks help control the rodent population.  Our resident Red Tails have a taste for squirrels. 

Click here for all our hawk posts.
 

Riverside Place: Neighbors Defending Their Own Driveways From Short Term Rental Parking

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  Neighbors put up no parking signs to deter party-goers and tourists from parking in their driveway.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)  

Neighbors on Riverside Place are fed up with a single family home recently sold and turned into a short term rental home (like Air B&B).  Neighbors report short term rental tenants are  there usually only for a few days at a time.  They also complain about large parties at least once a month at the home.  

Riverside Place is a substandard Hillside Street that narrows to a width of about 14'.  There is no City Standard turn-around nor cul-de-sac, nor are there sidewalks.  The southernmost portion of the street is owned by the surrounding neighbors with a public pedestrian easement to the Red Car Property.  Neighbors have limited street parking and things get chaotic when there is a party at the short term rental house.  Even just guests at the house bring parking problems as they are unaware of what is and is not a driveway on the street, often parking in neighbors' driveways.

City Council's Planning & Land Use (PLUM) Committee is supposed to hear fro the public again sometime in July or August.  Click here for City Council File 14-1635-S2.  

Red Car Property Neighborhood: There's Nothing Scarier On The 4th Of July Than Hipsters With Fireworks*

*Post originally published July 2, 2014.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 4, 2013.  That giant airborne explosion is not a professional fireworks show, but illegal fireworks shot off by some idiot on the south (Silver Lake & Elysian Heights) side of the 5 Freeway, close to Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It seems every year we see more people shooting off illegal fireworks in the hills.  You can hear the gunpowder raining down on your roof, patios & trees - as I witnessed on Corralitas a couple years ago.  That same year, another neighbor was dumbstruck when he saw drunken hipsters shooting off similar fireworks way up on top of Micheltorena.  

ALL FIREWORKS ARE ILLEGAL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, UNLESS THEY ARE IN A PROFESSIONAL FIREWORKS SHOW.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 27, 2014.  The dying Eucalyptus tree is still hanging above Red Car Canyon today.  (APN 5440-030-033)  

In fact, only 2 of the dozen or so dead and dying Eucalyptus we highlighted in May trees were significantly trimmed back.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 27, 2014.  The dead weeds are taller than the allowed 3" within 100' of homes. 

Links: LAFD Brush Clearance Unit
All our brush clearance posts

LAPD and LAFD are telling people, if you see someone shooting off fireworks, call 1-877-ASK-LAPD. If you see smoke, safely investigate.  If you see fire (not a BBQ) call 911.

Reminder: Keep A Fire Lane Open*

*Post originally published July 2, 2015.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 4, 2014. Last October's fire on the slope between Lake View Ave and the Red Car Property (caused by a blown transformer), showed just how tricky it is for the LAFD to navigate our narrow winding streets.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Luckily, there was no wind and the damage was confined to the brush on a slope where homeowners had done their brush clearance.  A lot of neighbors on Lake View got a wake up call about the importance of keeping a lane of traffic open for emergency vehicles.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 4, 2014.  Most neighbors on this part of Lake View already  took brush clearance and tree trimming seriously. 

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, August 13, 2010.  Riverside Place is one of the narrowest streets in the neighborhood.  Many of our streets have only one access point.  It's not just the 4th of July when we need to keep a lane of traffic open to for emergency vehicles, but all year round.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 22, 2012.  LAFD Company 56 is our local fire station and they are about the only crew with a small truck who really know the intricacies of our often substandard hillside streets, as seen above on Peru and Walcott in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists Tract. 

Some of our narrow streets and "corners" have hairpin turns and steep grades and only one means of access.  Don't block the street because you couldn't walk a few hundred feet.  If it's too far for you to walk, it might be time for you to clean out your garage and park in it.   

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 12, 2015.  The short end of Corralitas is the widest and flattest part of the street.  It's also only part of the street where people can park cars on both sides. 

A few minutes before the above photo, I watched as a LAFD ladder truck, responding to the same call, made several attempts at a left turn from Rosebud onto Corralitas.  It could not make the turn.  This compact fire engine LAFD 220 was already on scene of the car accident.

Since record drought and 4th of July fireworks (that started in May) have hillside homeowners a little more on edge than usual this year, we remind you to take responsibility for your own neighborhood, beyond just doing your own brush clearance.  

If you see someone blocking the street, fire hydrant or red curb, politely ask them not to park there.  If they're "unloading their car," offer to help them, so they feel compelled to move their car faster.  If you're having a party, ask your guests to carpool, wear walking shoes, park legally and don't block anyone's driveway.  We actually a sign on our front door for parties "Did you park legally? Are you blocking neighbor's driveways?"  Inevitably, a handful of people turn around and move their cars before coming in the door.  

LAPD and LAFD are telling people, if you see someone shooting off fireworks, call 1-877-ASK-LAPD. If you see smoke, safely investigate.  If you see fire (not a BBQ) call 911.

Rosebud Ave & Corralitas: Homeless Guy's Camp Cleared, Returned, Vacated in In One Day

This story is told through neighbors' photos and their anonymous quotes received via text.  All photos are by five different Corralitas Neighbors.  Click on photos to enlarge.

June 6, 2017.  After six months and three couches, neighbors are fed up with the homeless guy's camp at the corner of Rosebud Ave and Corralitas Drive, under the 2 Freeway.  A number of neighbors complained about him stealing water and electricity from their front yards, public urination, fornication, dumping his trash on Corralitas, checking a doorknob on a garage, belligerently knocking on doors looking to borrow a corkscrew, potential animal abuse (dying doves red) and dumping one of his three couches on Allesandro once he got a new one.

Considering Rosebud is the only vehicle access to Corralitas Drive, it is totally understandable why neighbors were increasingly agitated seeing this guy here every day. He knows everyone's cars and schedules.  A recent increase in mail and package theft and a few break-ins on our normally quiet street has everyone on edge, regardless of whether or not the homeless guy was involved.

June 11, 2017.  Neighbors saw notices posted Friday, hoped this time the homeless guy would get the message and move on.

June 13, 2017, 8:23 AM.  Beginning around 8 AM, neighbors exercising and leaving for work, reported the Dept of Sanitation and "numerous other agencies, are supervising the homeless guy pack up his belongings."  

Neighbors were not too hopeful, since we've seen this before.  He's refused numerous offers of assistance to get off the streets from PATH, who were once again on site.

June 13, 2017, 8:23 AM. Several neighbors texted as they watched the homeless guy move his belongings in shopping carts across Allesandro.  "He's been prepared with 3 - 4 carts ready to wheel away."

Coincidentally, a June 12, 2017, LA Times story on the City settling a lawsuit  over discarding the homeless' belongings, mentions a Catholic charity handing out shopping carts to the homeless on skid row.  Neighbors still want to know who's handing out couches.

June 13, 2017.  By 9:30 AM,  the City hauled away his couch, swept the sidewalk and was gone. Any belongings that left behind that would fit in a 30 gallon trash bin would be stored for 90 days where he could retrieve them. (See City notice above.)  While the tunnel was clear, neighbors sent yet another flurry of texts, photos and a video.

June 13, 2017, 9:30 AM.  As soon as neighbors noticed his stuff parked temporarily on Rosebud across Allesandro more photos and texts came in. 

One neighbor texted "They let him take ALL HIS CARTS across Allesandro where he appears to be waiting for all to leave so he can move back in."  

Previously a neighbor questioned why he was allowed to have so many belongings blocking much of the sidewalk, exclaiming, "He's got more stuff on the sidewalk than I have in my entire apartment!"

June 13, 2017.  An hour later, the first cart full of stuff and his pet birds reappeared.  (Last time it took him three hours to reappear with a lot less stuf.) 

According to another neighbor who was driving by and stopped when he saw two "18-22 year olds were opening homeless guy's bird cage.  I asked if they knew him and they said they did.  They were helping him move back."

May 19, 2017, after outcry from multiple neighbors, LA City Dept of Animal Services determined the doves were dyed red and pink with a hair dye used on dogs, and there was no crime or animal abuse.

June 13, 2017, 12:41 PM.  Two carts and already bags of trash were appearing.  A neighbor commented she was sick of seeing him dump his trash around the corner on Corralitas.  It's not like there aren't trash cans all over the street he could use.

June 13, 2017, less than 10 minutes later he was captured on video pushing a third cart up Rosebud back to his "home."  Neighbors were hopping mad at this point.

June 13, 2017, 7 PM.  Neighbors, returning home from work, were not pleased seeing the homeless guy's carts on the sidewalk and one in the street.  Many had left the hill while the City was there in the morning.  A neighbor said, "Did some furious neighbor overturn his cart? Or did he do it?  Or did it simply roll to its demise?"
June 14, 2017, 6 AM.  Neighbors were even more surprised to see a vacant tunnel the following morning.  Neighbors reported everything was gone at 9 PM and 2:30 AM when they returned home.  

Further inquiries with neighbors indicated several had run-ins with the homeless guy in the afternoon while he was bringing his carts back.  Police were called on at least two occasions.  However, neighbors got tired of waiting and left.  So we're not sure where he's gone now.