Pacoima businesses voice safety concerns as RV encampments disrupt local commerce

PACOIMA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Business owners along Montague Street in Pacoima say a growing line of broken down RVs has turned their block into an unsafe encampment that's driving customers away, and they claim that their Los Angeles city councilmember isn't doing enough to fix it.

For more than three decades, Adom Stauber has owned a commercial building on the street. He says the conditions outside have deteriorated dramatically over the past two years.

"The garbage, the feces -- it's just an ongoing issue that continues and is not being corrected," Stauber said, who describes the area as the "Skid Row of the Valley."

Sidewalks are now blocked by discarded furniture, satellite dishes and piles of trash. Dogs aggressively bark from inside RVs, and Stauber says some of the people living in the vehicles have been less than pleasant as well.

One tenant paying $80,000 a month for 60,000 square feet of warehouse space is now leaving, Stauber said, because clients don't enjoy visiting the property.

Stauber says he has repeatedly contacted the office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who represents the district, but feels nothing has changed.

"I've been reaching out to the council office for the past two years with no results," he said. "It's hurting me and all the other businesses in the area."

Other business owners on the block share the frustration.

"We deal with a lot of aerospace companies, and their first question is, 'What's going on outside?'" said Andy Rauda, who runs an electronic plating company on the street.

Next door, Israel Gamburd, who operates a medical device business, says the environment is especially troubling for his customers.

"We service people with disabilities, so we have people pull in and it's not a very comforting experience," Gamburd said.

Business owners say the situation worsens at night, when the street goes dark. Some electrical lines appear to have been cut, and extension cords run from power sources into several RVs.

Surveillance video provided to Eyewitness News shows rubbish and cooking fires that business owners say have become common.

Gamburd says the city's enforcement feels uneven.

"The homeless people have more rights than we do," he said. "If we park our car outside, we get cited. They don't get cited."

Councilmember Rodriguez pushed back on claims that her office has been unresponsive.

"That's contrary to the actual work of what we've delivered in that area," she said at a recent news conference.

Rodriguez said her office has helped move 67 people out of 22 RVs along a corridor of RVs on San Fernando Road where it meets Montague Street.

When asked about the trash and human waste business owners say they encounter daily, Rodriguez said the city sends additional cleaning crews regularly.

But business owners argue the cleanups don't last.

"The cleaning crew leaves, and everything comes right back," Gamburd said.

Stauber says he hopes continued attention will finally bring lasting change to the street.