Letters to the Editor
TUDOR home formerly at 361 N. Citrus Avenue.
‘Historic Citrus Ave. home quickly demolished’
Considering the blatantly illegal steps that were taken to demolish 361 N. Citrus — actions that were specifically designed to cover up and deceive — I challenge even the most hardened “property libertarian” to find any justification whatsoever in the owners’ actions. While they certainly had the “right” to buy the house, they did not have the right to tear it down in the manner they did. Especially egregious (and emblematic of the owners’ true disregard for both the house and the neighborhood’s historical significance) was the needless destruction of historical artifacts throughout the house. All of which makes the owners’ “teardown” letter especially heartbreaking in its bold-faced, lying cynicism. [See Reuven Gradon letter at tinyurl.com/t89rrms – Ed.]
The worst part for me, however, is that the owners will likely face either minor or no legal ramifications that would actually punish them. Just like the city’s pathetic handling of the Larchmont Bungalow case, the Citrus owners will probably just use the toothless system against itself, via lawsuits and postponements, and pay the meaningless fine in about 10 years, if at all. Or, like in the current case of the un-permitted $30M “mansion” in Bel Air, perhaps there will also be a “361 N Citrus, LLC” that will just declare bankruptcy, making the whole affair — and all the sorrow it has wreaked to an entire community — just a needless exercise in vanity and greed on the part of a single homeowner.
Pen Pendleton
Wilton Historical District
Not saying what the buyers did was not wrong, however, [the] sellers received an above-asking-price buyer that paid $2.3 for a 2,300-square-foot property, comps do not support that value at all, and this property would have sold for about $100k to 200k less had it been sold to an owner-occupied home, did they think a buyer paying that much for a property is not buying it for the land value? Or did they know?…. Just saying.
Mark Farzad
Los Angeles
Category: News