City has never taken home for health violations, attorney says
SUNSET PARK — An apartment building in Santa Monica plagued with code violations has been ordered by the court to be demolished.
Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Lisa Hart Cole on Monday approved a recommendation by a court-appointed receiver that the apartment building at 2438 Ocean Park Blvd. be razed to the ground.
Judge Cole in January appointed Century City-based attorney David Pasternak to take control of the property and determine whether it could conform to health and safety codes, or if it was in such disrepair that it needed to be demolished. The process is known as a “receivership.”
Shortly after, the building’s owner, Guillermo Gonzalez, filed an appeal to deny allowing Pasternak to be the court-appointed receiver. Pasternak assumed full control of the property in January.The three-unit building is still being occupied by Gonzalez, 55. “This is an American dream, to have a house, and now that I have one, they want to take it away from me,” Gonzalez said.
In her Monday ruling, Judge Cole allowed the demolition to be delayed until Gonzalez’ appeal is resolved. It’s not known how long the appeal process will take. Judge Cole set a status conference for Gonzalez’ appeal on Aug. 11.
City Hall for years has been citing Gonzalez after several neighbors complained the property was overrun with garbage, flammable materials and junk, and that a single upstairs bedroom had some 14 bunkbeds rented out by the week — an allegation that Gonzalez denied.
In 1997, Gonzalez was charged with 85 misdemeanor counts for violations of building, fire, plumbing and electrical codes, and has had ongoing legal problems since then, according to Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky, who is handling the case on behalf of Santa Monica’s consumer protection unit. Radinsky said Gonzalez has repeatedly refused court orders to fix a host of code violations, landing him in county jail for nine months in 1998.
Pasternak advised the court in papers he filed that the cost of repairing the property and bringing it up to code was prohibitively high and that the property would be worth more empty than with a repaired building, according to Radinsky.
Making that determination required several inspections, contractor estimates and assessments from real estate agents, according to Pasternak, adding the costs will be paid for by Gonzalez, who likely will either have to sell his property or refinance his mortgage.
Pasternak said Gonzalez and the building’s other tenants will be allowed to stay in the building — for now.
Gonzalez, a retired construction worker, has lived in the building for 31 years, which city officials called a “dangerous blight to the community” that has been “the site of chronic criminal activity” as a result of Gonzalez’ alleged negligence in dealing with the matter.
In addition to the code violations, Radinsky said there had been 32 calls to police within a one-year period for complaints related to excessive noise and other alleged criminal wrongdoing.
Gonzalez credited a disgruntled neighbor with making the calls.
Gonzalez said the front unit in which he lives has five occupants, he and his common-law wife, Beatriz Zustovich, and their 5-year-old daughter, Stacy.
In addition to Gonzalez and his family, two renters pay between $50 and $65 a week to rent bunk beds in a large upstairs bedroom. Another family of three pays $650 monthly to rent the building’s rear unit, Gonzalez said.
Tracy Condon, a spokeswoman for the Rent Control Board, said the building is not under rent control because its owner lives in it and he filed for an exemption in 1980. Gonzalez said he was emotionally attached to the property, where he’s lived since 1973 and where he raised his first son, who has since moved out. The apartment building was built in 1947.
City Hall has not sought to take control of a property from its owner for more than 15 years and has never done so for health and safety code violations, Radinsky said. However, Radinsky warned it can happen.
Gonzalez insists he has taken care of the code violations and his home is fit for living.
“This house is better than ever,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a little depressing, because I’ve been helping the homeless, and now they want to put the homeless and my family on the street.”
Gonzalez said he is not sure where he will go if he has to leave his home, but he said he would prefer to be in Santa Monica, which his wife, Beatriz, said will be unlikely.
“It’s too expensive here,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 4, 2005. Read the original PDF.