Correspondence: suggestions for the Commission (2 of 2), 1977-1991, p. 52 |
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Richard A. Deeter
P.O. Box 840
King's Canyon National Park
California 93633
November 10, 1980
City of Torrance
Planning Department
3031 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, California 90503
Dear Sirs:
I have applied for a variance, asking that my three unit apartment
building be considered four units legally. All the forms necessary
for filing this action have been filled out and I presume are in
front of you. In spite of their detail, I feel they do not adequately explain why this building should be permitted as four units.
Let me tell you why.
Perhaps you have noticed my apartment building where it sits at the
corner of West 190th Street and Falda Avenue: Mansfred-style wood
shake roof, beige board-and-batten siding trimmed with flagstones,
and English ivy trailing along a brick retaining wall. Perhaps you
remember it, as I do, back in 1970 when I was given the opportunity
to purchase it. Maybe you are one of the many people who watched
with interest the progress I made these ten years while transforming
it from the worst building there in "Dogpatch" to the very finest.
I purchased the building by"assuming the payments with no cash down.
I was only twenty-five and asked myself, "How could I lose?" The
advice was given to me to forget how it looked—rent it for as high
a rate as possible and fix it only enough to keep it rented. "Absolutely do not put any of your own money into it!" I was told. In
other words, learn how to be a slum landlord.
THE PROBLEM
I looked around me at the newly acquired building. Tall weeds surrounded it, densely rooted in the tightly packed, adobe-clay earth.
The retaining wall had ruptured, spewing a litter of bricks and dirt
the full length of the sidewalk. White peeling stucco framed shabbily black-trimmed broken wood sash windows. Fences in various states
of collapse bordered the non-conforming buildings.
The interior of the buildings were in a similar state of disrepair.
Asphalt floor tiles popped amid the refuse of thousands of cockroaches
and field mice nesting freely. The mildew stench assaulted me, combined with urine from the oozing toilet which fluorished a blanket of
green slime. Doors had fallen from their hinges and the broken light
Object Description
Description
| Title | Correspondence: suggestions for the Commission (2 of 2), 1977-1991, p. 52 |
| Format (imt) | image/tiff |
| Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | Richard A. Deeter P.O. Box 840 King's Canyon National Park California 93633 November 10, 1980 City of Torrance Planning Department 3031 Torrance Blvd. Torrance, California 90503 Dear Sirs: I have applied for a variance, asking that my three unit apartment building be considered four units legally. All the forms necessary for filing this action have been filled out and I presume are in front of you. In spite of their detail, I feel they do not adequately explain why this building should be permitted as four units. Let me tell you why. Perhaps you have noticed my apartment building where it sits at the corner of West 190th Street and Falda Avenue: Mansfred-style wood shake roof, beige board-and-batten siding trimmed with flagstones, and English ivy trailing along a brick retaining wall. Perhaps you remember it, as I do, back in 1970 when I was given the opportunity to purchase it. Maybe you are one of the many people who watched with interest the progress I made these ten years while transforming it from the worst building there in "Dogpatch" to the very finest. I purchased the building by"assuming the payments with no cash down. I was only twenty-five and asked myself, "How could I lose?" The advice was given to me to forget how it looked—rent it for as high a rate as possible and fix it only enough to keep it rented. "Absolutely do not put any of your own money into it!" I was told. In other words, learn how to be a slum landlord. THE PROBLEM I looked around me at the newly acquired building. Tall weeds surrounded it, densely rooted in the tightly packed, adobe-clay earth. The retaining wall had ruptured, spewing a litter of bricks and dirt the full length of the sidewalk. White peeling stucco framed shabbily black-trimmed broken wood sash windows. Fences in various states of collapse bordered the non-conforming buildings. The interior of the buildings were in a similar state of disrepair. Asphalt floor tiles popped amid the refuse of thousands of cockroaches and field mice nesting freely. The mildew stench assaulted me, combined with urine from the oozing toilet which fluorished a blanket of green slime. Doors had fallen from their hinges and the broken light |
| Filename | indep-box23-14-03~050.tif |
| Archival file | Volume78/indep-box23-14-03~050.tif |
