FACILITY FOR ELDER CARE IN DISPUTE.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer The picket signs planted in front lawns along Densmore Avenue say it all: ``Stop Business at 4938. Keep Out.'' The point of contention for neighborhood residents who met with city, county and state officials Tuesday night is a six-bed residential care facility for elderly Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. patients. Residents are angry that they were not notified before the purchase of the facility or given a choice in the matter before Freedom Gardens Densmore was given its state license to open in a residential area north of Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. . ``To discount the needs of an entire neighborhood for a facility that can go elsewhere and an (owner) that is motivated by profit seems inconceivable to me,'' resident and protest organizer Mia Levi said before the meeting, which drew about 70 people. She plans to move from her Densmore Avenue home because of the new facility. The residents' attitudes baffle facility administrator Debbie Garber. She and managing partner Gary Avery made many attempts to communicate with residents, including hand-delivering letters and boxes of candy to neighbors, she said. ``Integrity is at the heart of our value system,'' Garber said. ``We're doing this because we want to do well with the seniors and we wanted to do well (in) the neighborhood.'' Residents said they are not opposed to serving Alzheimer's patients, but they fear property values will decline, traffic will worsen wors·en tr. & intr.v. wors·ened, wors·en·ing, wors·ens To make or become worse. worsen Verb to make or become worse worsening adjn and their children will be exposed to touchy issues such as death and illness. ``Our young children are going to be bicycling on the street (and) see a coroner taking away a body in a bag,'' Levi said. The upscale neighborhood is a mix of young families with children and middle-age residents, most of whom oppose the facility, said resident Elaine Mizrahie. ``Some people with Alzheimer's are very docile doc·ile adj. 1. Ready and willing to be taught; teachable. 2. Yielding to supervision, direction, or management; tractable. , but others are very scary-looking for children,'' she said. ``They make loud noises and become belligerent.'' It's the residents who have been hostile, said Garber, adding that she and Avery have been harassed and picketed since late June, when they notified residents of their presence. ``They're trying to present something scary scar·y adj. scar·i·er, scar·i·est 1. Causing fright or alarm. 2. Easily scared; very timid. scar here, but there's nothing to be scared of,'' Garber said. ``They're frankly the ones we're scared of.'' The senior citizens are not going to ``scale the fence and jump the wall,'' said Garber, whose clients will only be those with early-stage Alzheimer's and some with Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. . ``The residents are worried about the children, and I suggest that their children could learn a lot from these elderly people,'' Garber added. The facility will be monitored by interior and exterior security cameras, and will be staffed 24 hours day. But neighborhood fear and outrage are familiar cries these days throughout the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , as more and more residential care facilities located side by side with single-family homes crop up. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the California Community Care Facilities Act, cities and counties must permit and encourage the development of sufficient numbers and types of residential care facilities to meet local need. Facilities serving six or fewer people are to be considered as a residential use of the property under local ordinances A local ordinance is a law usually found in a municipal code. In the United States, these laws are enforced locally in addition to state law and Federal law. See also
State Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Wally wally Noun pl -lies Brit slang a stupid or foolish person [from the name Walter] Noun 1. Knox, D-Los Angeles, who represents the area, said he has not heard a valid complaint for closing Freedom Gardens Densmore, but that such residential care facilities are highly regulated by federal and state agencies to ensure that they are carefully operated and maintained to prevent decreases in home values. ``Nobody wants an area or neighborhood flooded with many of these institutions, but I think we all recognize they have to go somewhere,'' said Knox, whose office was unable to find another such facility in the neighborhood's ZIP code zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. . CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Debbie Garber, administrator of the residential care facility for elderly Alzheimer's patients, says neighbors have been hostile. Tom Mendoza/Daily News (2) Next-door neighbors Larry and Sharon Drew, parents of three, say kids and Alzheimer's don't mix. David Sprague/Daily News Map: Encino |
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