Tuesday afternoon smoke was seen coming out the roof of the City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher. Fireman were called and the fire was put out.
Fire stated at the City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher Friday morning just after 6 am. Venice fire department had it out before 7 am. This is the area that has been inhabited by homeless recently and is scheduled by the Bureau of Sanitation to be demolished this year.
City engineers visit City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher to prepare walls and offices for demolition. See Angela McGregor’s comments under Comments.
Triangle residents feel they are surrounded by homeless. Homeless are all along Washington and Lincoln Blvds in doorways at night, solicitating at the corner during day, and in the shopping center and on Carter, both day and night.. The Maintenance Yard on Thatcher has police and fire there frequently to remove the encampment. The only other area not covered is highlighted by this tent and it is County property. County is continuously removing homeless from the area between the Oxford Retention Basin and the wall on Oxford.
Debbie Dyner Harris, district director for Councilman Mike Bonin, explains to Triangle residents the procedures for demolition and fencing the property.
The Triangle, area west of Lincoln and south of Washington, voted to have wrought iron fencing with an angled top when the abandoned buildings at the City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher are removed.
Larna Hartnack, who headed the event, said the results were clear that the neighbors wanted the buildings removed and a wrought iron fence with an angled top installed to enclose the area.
The abandoned buildings have been an attraction for homeless. The homeless situation is what initiated all the action regarding the yard. Recently, there were two fires that caused the fire department to respond. Police frequently field calls from residents regarding the homeless in the yard and Sanitation employees check on the yard at least once a week.
Debbie Dyner Harris, district director for Councilman Mike Bonin’s office, explained the the procedure for tearing it down. She could not give a time line for demolition or fence installation. She also answered all the questions that residents had regarding the yard.
Debbie Dyner Harris, district director for Councilman Mike Bonin’s office, will meet with Triangle residents Thursday at 6 pm at the Thatcher Maintenance Yard on Princeton between Oxford and Thatcher.
Harris will be addressing the homeless issue prevalent with the abandoned yard and relay to residents the status, what can be done, and the future of yard.
Police frequently check Maintenance Yard on Thatcher for homeless who try to stay there.
New sign appeared on abandoned Thatcher Maintenance Yard, which is owned by both Street Services and Sanitation. Sign refers to LAMC, Sec 41.24. This will make it easier for City to prosecute trespassers.
A guard who was watching the City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher made the statement that the yard would be left unguarded soon because “it was not safe” for sanitation or street service personnel to guard the place. One guard explained that they tell trespassers not to enter the yard, that they will call the police.
A guard has been on duty from 3 pm to 7 am on Thatcher side. When the service is scheduled to cease is not known.
Since the homeless could not get in yard, they were going thru the unlocked fire gates on Thatcher at Mirabella. At Jefferson Marina apartments, one tenant said he had a homeless man sleeping in front of his door one morning.
These fire gates are all suppose to be alarmed and ON. Without that, they are open doors. Mirabella has four; Jefferson Marina has one. One would think that management would comply with the conditions at least for the safety of their tenants. It would appear that if there were a problem, it would be tantamount to a law suit.
The abandoned City Maintenance Yard on Thatcher, which use to house a division of both Sanitation and Street Services, continuously has problems with homeless dropping in for a stay. One usually brings more. A guard is now on duty from 3 pm to 7 am, seven days a week, to prevent homeless occupancy.
Saturday around midnight a helicopter circling the yard woke the neighborhood and a police car was seen going down Thatcher. Beyond that, no one knows what happened.