Bernson Plan Wins Tentative OK : Landlords Face Upkeep Fees

City Councilman Hal Bernson, continuing an effort to clean up the Bryant Street-Vanalden Avenue area of his Northridge district, on Tuesday won City Council approval to start the process for imposing a special fee on property owners for sidewalk and street maintenance.

Bernson’s request that the city Board of Public Works initiate proceedings to set up an assessment district for “scrubbing of sidewalks, trimming of trees, emptying of trash receptacles and cleaning of tree wells” in the area was approved unanimously and without discussion.

“This is unusual,” said Gilbert Farias, assistant director of the Department of Public Works assessment division. In several parts of Los Angeles, he said, businesses are assessed a nominal fee for upkeep of sidewalks in front of their stores.

No Precedent

But, Farias said, the city has never established an assessment district for sidewalk maintenance in a residential neighborhood such as the Bryant-Vanalden area. Assessment districts in residential areas are usually established to pay for installation of sidewalks, trees or street lights.

Bernson said the assessment district is necessary because Bryant-Vanalden landlords have failed to keep the outside of their buildings clean.

The council’s action comes as city and county inspectors, at Bernson’s request, have been conducting sweeps of apartments in the Bryant-Vanalden area. Bernson also is preparing to meet privately with Bryant-Vanalden apartment owners Thursday night to discuss a plan for cleaning up the area.

The plan calls for landlords, with financial help from the city, to install security gates, renovate apartments and make other improvements. If they refuse, the plan calls for the city to declare the entire neighborhood a redevelopment project and take over the 650 units through condemnation, if necessary.

Earlier Proposal

Bernson has been looking at other ways to clean up the area after his earlier proposal to make it easier for landlords to evict the 3,000 predominantly low-income Latino renters from the neighborhood encountered strong opposition from civil rights and tenants groups, as well as a veto threat by Mayor Tom Bradley.

Bernson said the assessment district would “guarantee maintenance of the area until we get the larger neighborhood revitalization project completed.”

Emile Sauer, a Bryant-Vanalden landlord, questioned why he should pay a special fee to clean the sidewalks and streets “when I pay taxes.”

No estimate has been made on how much the assessment district would cost property owners. Under the procedure, if a majority of property owners protest, the assessment can be approved only if it receives 12 votes from the 15-member council. However, council members traditionally defer to their colleagues on matters affecting their districts.