Safety Officials Try to Allay Residents’ Fears

Ventura safety officials met with residents of the Harborview complex to try to allay fears that the hillside apartments are sliding away.

“If we thought there was an inkling of a chance of you sliding down the hill, you wouldn’t live there now,” Fire Chief Dennis Downs told the group of almost a dozen jittery residents Monday.

Downs and Chief Building Inspector Bob Prodoehl told residents that they are working with complex owner Jim Boyd in reviewing $3.3 million in repair plans, that they are talking with structural engineers and carefully monitoring the buildings, and that there is no immediate, life-threatening danger.

But in the meantime, it is best to stay off their cantilevered, ocean-view decks, Prodoehl said.

“He [a structural engineer] recommended that all balconies should have a limited occupancy load--no more than four people,” he said, adding that planters and furniture weighing more than 100 pounds should not be kept on outer reaches of the decks.

The four buildings that make up the 90-unit Harborview complex are at 275 N. Kalorama Drive, 333 N. Kalorama, 900 Tioga Drive and 880 Summit Drive.

Built in 1963, the buildings have gradually fallen into a state of disrepair. But recently, several residents were afraid that the cracks and holes opening up around their sidewalks, doors and windows were more than cosmetic problems. They took their concerns to the city.

On Monday, Prodoehl will make a formal presentation to the City Council on the state of the buildings and the repairs that the city will require of the owner.