Building Code Violations

About four dozen residents of a mice- and roach-infested apartment building in northwest Pasadena were ordered evacuated Friday after city officials declared the three-story structure a public nuisance and safety hazard. The residents, mainly Spanish-speaking immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador, will spend the weekend at Jackie Robinson Center in Pasadena, where the American Red Cross plans to set up cots and provide food.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer said Wednesday that "Codewatch"--a new program that trains volunteers to spot building-code violations--has saved the city an estimated $100,000 in its first three months of operation. The 60 volunteers who take part in the program in the San Fernando Valley offered tips that generated 805 code-violation cases between April and June, Chick said.

Operators of a halfway house that was cited for operating without a state license said Wednesday that they will be out of the city by the end of the week. City officials had threatened to take legal action to close the Victory Outreach Ministry International facility, at the corner of Richfield Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard, if the halfway house wasn't brought up to code by today. "We didn't want to impose on the city any longer," said Victory Outreach Senior Pastor Bruce Bernal.

A downtown landlord was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail for code violations at one of his apartment buildings and was also ordered to perform 750 hours of community service at a mission that aids homeless people. William Burkhalter Jr., 54, who was convicted Feb. 24 of 22 building code violations at his building at 1723 W. 9th St., was also ordered to pay a total of $18,700 in fines and penalties and was placed on three years' probation.

The owners of a 265-room hotel where city and county inspectors have reportedly found cockroaches, broken toilets, chained-up fire escapes and backed-up sewage will respond to slumlord charges in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Thursday. Junn Hsiong Hsiao, 56, of Palos Verdes Estates, and Song Lieng Lee, 44, of Hacienda Heights, named as executives of Western Pacific International Inc.

Criminal charges were filed Thursday against a husband and wife who allegedly have not addressed numerous health and building safety code violations at a three-story apartment complex they own in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, authorities said. Ramin Akhavan, 32, and Aida S. Akhavan, 29, of Encino were charged by the Los Angeles city attorney's office with 27 violations including operating an apartment complex that lacks heat and has broken windows.

Engineers investigating the collapse of a recital hall at Cal State Long Beach's music complex have identified six more buildings with structural problems, bringing to 14 the number of buildings that officials have closed or are contemplating shutting down. In a report to California State University officials released Wednesday, structural engineers recommended that the six "over-stressed" buildings remain open only if remedial action is taken to ensure their stability.

In a cramped one-bedroom bungalow marked by peeling paint, cracked floors and crumbling walls live Kimberly Perez, her husband and five children. And hundreds of cockroaches. The pests pour in from a gaping hole in the rear of the family's rented home. "You can hear them," said Perez, 27, cocking her ear for the clickety-click sound the bugs make against the tiles. The sights rarely have been seen by Evette Awadalla, who owns the bungalow.

Criminal charges were filed Thursday against a husband and wife for alleged health and building safety code violations at a three-story apartment complex in the 700 block of South Westlake Avenue, authorities said. Ramin Akhavan, 32, and Aida S. Akhavan, 29, of Encino were charged by the Los Angeles city attorney's office with 27 code violations, including operating an apartment without heat. The Akhavans are scheduled for arraignment Nov.

As they crossed the threshold of this city's best-known residence Saturday, busload after busload of visitors stood and marveled. They had braved drizzle, steep hills and police-guided detours to get a glimpse of what has become part of Glendale lore. The gargantuan home at 3150 El Tovar Drive, renowned for its multiple building code violations, was part of an annual residential tour that has become a big moneymaker for Hoover High School.