COUNTY: PARK STAIRWAY DANGEROUS.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer STEVENSON RANCH Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. - A steep and narrow shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. to a neighborhood park will be inspected today by county officials, who say the concrete stairway stairway or staircase Series or flight of steps that provides a means of moving from one level to another. The earliest stairways seem to have been built with walls on both sides, as in Egyptian pylons dating from the 2nd millennium BC. was built illegally and might have to be removed. The 26 steps connect the back of Richard Rioux Memorial Park to a steep service road that leads to a water tank. The steps have been fenced to cut them off from the park since they were discovered by a county worker. The five-member homeowners association board - most of whom work for Lennar Communities, developer of Stevenson Ranch - authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: up to $15,000 in homeowner dues to build the stairwell stair·well n. A vertical shaft around which a staircase has been built. stairwell Noun a vertical shaft in a building that contains a staircase Noun 1. on association-owned land. But the shortcut appears to be inaccessible inaccessible Surgery adjective Unreachable; referring to a lesion that unmanageable by standard surgical techniques–eg, lesions deep in the brain or adjacent to vital structures–ie, not accessible. See Accessible. to the disabled. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County officials say no permits were obtained before it was built, and they will order the association either to remove the stairs or try to prove they meet county standards and are accessible to the disabled. The stairs were built early last year, board member Keith Pritsker said. Both Lennar and the association's management company, Euclid Management, refused to answer questions about the work or who did it. Maintenance workers came across the steps when they found a hole in the fence surrounding the park, which sits at the top of a slope. They checked and learned that no construction permits had been issued. Jeff Wheeler, assistant director of the county Parks and Recreation Department's north region, said the developer should have created a second access when the park was built rather than add it later without permits. ``If the developer wished to have an entrance there, they could have designed it that way,'' Wheeler said. County officials said they lack authority to remove the steps from private property, but must protect taxpayers from liability by keeping the fence around the park intact. The stairs were a mistake, resident Gary Schamber said. ``There's a potential for kids to get up there,'' he said. Wheeler said they also could be hazardous. ``I would be concerned if any person climbing the fence fell,'' Wheeler said. ``I believe there would be a potential liability.'' Officials believe county government has limited its liability by never approving the construction of the stairs, repairing the fence and continuing to maintain it. But it could take a court to decide, said Conal McNamara, planning deputy for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San . CAPTION(S): map Map: Illegally built stairway |
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