Neighborhood That Time Forgot May Get Face Lift : Housing: Otherwise, the city threatens to tear down dilapidated homes. Some tenants could become homeless.

BUENA PARK —  Potholes 2 feet deep scar the dirt road that leads to the tiny enclave of dilapidated homes and apartments. Neighborhood children play in the dusty path near a blue trash bin overflowing with garbage.

It is unofficially called Larsen Lane--or Tijuana because of its ramshackle atmosphere--and rent is cheap for the 14 or so families who live there. So cheap, they are willing to put up with the termite-rotted floors, leaking ceilings and faulty electrical outlets.

However, within a month, this could change. Following an extensive investigation, city officials last week ordered several of the property owners to fix the problems within 30 days or the city would tear the dwellings down.

“I can’t believe you would accept money for that housing,” City Councilman Arthur Brown told the owners, whom he called “slumlords.” “You have a moral obligation to provide neat, clean, safe housing. . . . I think it is reprehensible.”

The owners admit that the conditions are bad, and they probably would not live there themselves. Some said they did minimum maintenance while waiting to sell it. One already has begun the repairs, but others have complained that they weren’t given proper notification about the problems.

“We were never given a list of things that we were supposed to do,” said Alex Dourbetas of La Palma, one of the cited property owners. “We have been accused of failing to respond. That is very unfair.”

Dourbetas said he and his partner would willingly make the needed repairs if they knew what was required. He added that the housing, although not up to city standards, gave people who might otherwise be homeless a place to live.

“If you tear this property down, they would have to pay $600 to $700 a month somewhere else. They cannot afford that,” Dourbetas said.

“One thing we are not is slumlords,” he said. He and his partner “spend a lot of Saturdays and Sundays there.”

The residents are largely unaware of the city’s decision, which could put them on the street while repairs are under way during the next few months. And some of the residents wonder why, now, after nearly 20 years, are city officials beginning to care.

“I don’t know why they are doing it (citing the owners) now,” said 18-year resident Nora Omara, who lives next door to one of the houses that could be demolished. Omara said she has tried for years to persuade officials and the property owner to repair the road, which regularly floods whenever it rains.

“This is worse than Tijuana,” Omara said. “By the time you walk to the front, your shoes are destroyed.”

For more than 40 years, the small community at the end of the private path has lived in near-seclusion. The neighborhood, between 8th and 9th streets, is not visible from Western Avenue, and until now has gone relatively unnoticed.

According to city officials, the last time building inspectors went to the property was in 1975. At that time, several violations were indicated, but there was no mention of any subsequent inspection.

What prompted the current inspections, according to current Building and Safety Manager Bob Gallagher, was a request by Police Chief Richard M. Tefank to clean up areas that could “save law enforcement problems in the future.”

Asked why city inspectors didn’t go back to the area before now, Gallagher responded that the city’s usual procedure is to wait for someone to complain. In substandard areas, many people are willing to take the conditions because of the low rents, he said. “If no one complains about it, we are busy enough to have other concerns.”

Councilwoman Rhonda J. McCune says she was made aware of the area by Tefank. She questioned why the area had not been addressed before now. “It looks like it might have gotten lost somewhere in the system.”

The area’s history is just as elusive. City building records show that in 1950 a Mr. Larsen bought the land and began constructing homes. Since then, the property has been sectioned off and sold to a variety of owners. About 14 homes in various stages of decay are located on the parcel.

George Krajacic of Buena Park is the owner of the roadway. Although there are no signs to mark its existence and it is not considered an “official” road, people refer to the pathway as Larsen Lane.

Residents of the neighborhood call it Tijuana.

Sixteen-year-old Maria Cabral has lived there since she was 4. Her family pays $500 a month, she says, for half of a weathered Victorian home that building officials call “unsightly, structurally unsafe and a fire menace.”

“It is not safe around here anymore,” said the barefoot Cabral, while her three nephews played on a truck nearby. “It is scary. During an earthquake I just hope nothing will fall on me.”

In an extensive report, code enforcement officers detailed problems with the dwelling, ranging from water leaking into electrical outlets to vermin infestations.

Cabral, who is too embarrassed to have friends drive her down the dirt path, has watched the house slowly break apart. She remembers leaning up against the bathroom wall and having bricks fall on her. “All underneath it was black and ugly and rotted.”

Tired of asking her parents to complain to the landlords--Dourbetas and Tom Lockhart of Yorba Linda--she has since given up trying.

Lockhart and Dourbetas appeared before the council this week, saying they hope to sell the property and insisting that they have been making repairs.

Two of their properties at 6467 and 6469 Larsen Lane were considered by city officials to be in the worst condition. Three additional parcels were cited: George Brown of Buena Park, owner of a house and duplex, is in the process of rehabilitating his two properties. The remaining property, a house owned by Robert Chambers of Garden Grove, needs extensive work, according to the city.

Chambers said he was not given proper notification about the problems and asked for more than 30 days to fix up the property. “I agree the property is not in the greatest shape,” he said, adding that he has owned the house for about five years.

The council’s action becomes final at next Monday’s meeting. The owners will be given 30 days to make the repairs or the homes will be condemned. According to Rick Warsinski of the Developmental Services Department, the city does not have any legal obligation to help the displaced families find replacement housing. In the meantime, Maria Cabral’s family is making plans to move back to Mexico.