Tree That Toppled Weeks Ago Still Blocking Portion Of Street In Northridge
NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — Nearly three weeks ago, a strong windstorm passed through the San Fernando Valley.
But for people who live in Northridge, a visual reminder remains: a large downed pine tree.
"It seems like they're taking forever to clean it up," says Julian Sandoval, who lives next door to the downed tree.
He worries that drivers may not see the downed tree at night.
"If you run into the tree, God knows what can happen to your vehicle and yourself," he said.
The tree's trunk and limbs block the sidewalk and a portion of Wilbur Avenue at Devonshire Street.
It crashed through the back wall of a man's home and onto city property.
He didn't want to show his face during an on-camera interview but said "it's causing traffic jams and on top of that people used the sidewalk to, you know, [get] around the neighborhood."
He added, "it's affecting the whole neighborhood."
"The city told me that they are aware of the situation and they'll get to it when they can and there's other matters that are a bigger priority than this," he said.
The homeowner says he's been told that everything on the inside of the back wall is his responsibility but everything on the other side of the wall is the city's, including cleaning up the tree from the sidewalk and the road.
But the city contends, that's not the case.
A city spokesperson says, since the tree was on private property, it remains the homeowner's responsibility to clean it up. Despite this, late Tuesday, the city said, it will remove the tree in the next day or two.
Sandoval says he doesn't care who cleans it up as long as it is gone.
"A lot of people sometimes when they don't know what the issue looks like, they tend to say, 'Oh, it's not important.' Well, it is important to us because we live right next door to it," he said.