Landowners fume at no-permit road

The L.A.Daily News reports:

Faced with furious landowners and extensive environmental damage, city building inspectors are finally trying to catch up with a clergyman they say illegally carved up a La Tuna Canyon hillside to build his church.

Neighbors, who first complained about the illegal construction in 2001, say city officials' lack of enforcement has created a dangerous landslide risk for residents downhill and an expensive liability for property owners whose land was bulldozed without their permission.

"This has been going on for years with the church, and they've been cited several times," said Linda Greco, president of the La Tuna Canyon Community Association.

"I just wish somebody would enforce the laws. When you're doing illegal grading, it's putting the whole community at risk. There are mudslide issues."

Is it the Churches property or the state?