To the editor: The sewer state of affairs in Altadena arises from the event of the world and poor code enforcement by L.A. County (“Altadena’s newest roadblock to rebuilding: Sewage,” Could 15). Beneath Altadena’s rustic attraction lay a large number of errors, oversights and omissions.
I lived for 14 years in a west Altadena home in-built 1941. Its sewer connection took an extended course to a facet avenue quite than to the road of my handle. My next-door neighbor’s Twenties house featured a jerry-rigged drain area that despatched uncooked effluent to his yard, dangerously near a swimming pool, one other unapproved characteristic from a long time previous.
Altadena’s development was gradual, and never within the least uniform. A lot of the housing, significantly within the west of the world, was altered by residents who made additions and alterations undeterred by any guidelines, whereas enforcement remained virtually nil. Many houses bought “as is,” with the brand new occupants merely accepting issues as discovered.
If the sewer state of affairs was dangerous, the floor drainage preparations had been worse. Many streets acted as drainage culverts throughout rainstorms, and residents relied on channels lower by their properties to divert water from the road above to the one under. It lacked curbs or formal drainage preparations apart from gravity.
Alas, the sweeter character of Altadena is gone; the individuality of its homes, the character of its neighborhoods. However officers want to make sure that sewers, sidewalks and avenue drains are updated and code.
Michael McGrorty, Seal Seashore
