North Hollywood residents say vacant lot has been neighborhood nuisance

Residents in North Hollywood say they’re fed up with an abandoned lot in their neighborhood that has been taken over by squatters.

Some neighbors on the 7700 block of Varna Avenue say they’ve grown frustrated with mounting trash and violence associated with the property.

According to one resident in the neighborhood, the original house that was on the lot burned down, leaving the property vacant for more than 10 years. He alleges that the property’s new owner simply abandoned the lot.

“We all see homeless people go in the back doing drugs,” said David Abrahamian, who lives in the area.

“Multiple shootings, overdose deaths, so I can tell you there’s been stolen cars left in front of my house a couple of times,” said Robert Baindourov, who also lives in the neighborhood. “I personally have seen somebody stop a drive-by shooting.”

According to the city, there have been more than two dozen calls about the property.

“Since the beginning of 2023 alone, there had been 28 calls for service,” said LA City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian. “Of the 28 were initiated by community members, 10 were initiated by police officers.”

Nazarian said the lot should be cleaned up by the end of the week. While neighbors rejoice in that promise, they say they hope the city will also take steps to keep the squatters from returning.