Single-family homes are allegedly hotbeds for illegal drug-related activities (Sinduja Rangarajan / Neon Tommy)

The crackdown is a part of the city’s ongoing efforts to improve safety and quality of life in residential neighborhoods under the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program. The initiative allows the city to sue homeowners if their properties are frequent sources of crime and danger.

“Enough is enough,” Feuer said in a press release. “My office will continue to fight to rid our neighborhoods of serious nuisances that can drag down entire communities.” 

In this newest case, the city has slapped narcotics and public nuisance lawsuits against Cheryl Sugasawara Oyenoki, the owner of the Marina Del Rey property, and her boyfriend Christopher Menefee.

The second lawsuit targets Alberta Lynch, the owner of a property in Venice, and her 46-year old son, James Lynch.

Police have made 22 arrests since April 2014 for drug-related activities connected with both these properties, according to the complaint.

Speaking to reporters in a City Hall press conference, Feuer said the city’s main concern is that both properties will negatively affect the people served by nearby parks, schools and day care centers.

“Kids shouldn’t have to walk to school passing by nuisances, walking by drug dealers,” Feuer said.

The city is seeking court orders to prohibit selling, possessing and consuming illegal drugs on both the properties. It also aims to keep Menefee and James Lynch, who city prosecutors allege are catalysts for the disturbances in the communities, at least 1,000 feet away from the house.

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The Westside neighborhood of Venice was quiet on Monday afternoon. A man carried a bag of golf clubs to the local putting green, residents walked their dogs and a group of teenagers rode their bikes.

Alberta Lynch’s Venice home, just a couple of blocks from a medium-sized park, looked like many other single-family homes on the street, accented with a manicured lawn and a tree shading the porch.

But, records show, law enforcement officials have made 16 drug-related arrests connected with this site in the past year and have found drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and other narcotics paraphernalia inside the property 

On multiple occasions, neighbor Mark Cheng, a sports medicine and rehab specialist, who has a private practice in Santa Monica, has spotted people loitering around the house. 

“I have seen lots of shady people hanging around there,” Cheng said. “People hang out there on their bikes at random hours of the day.”

Cheng, who recently moved into the neighborhood because he wanted his children to study in a Mandarin immersion school nearby, said he’s concerned for the safety of his children and supports the city’s decision to evict James Lynch.

Another longtime neighbor and a friend of the Lynch family, who has lived on the same street for 52 years, said that James Lynch had a “drug problem.” But she called the city’s decision a harsh, final blow to a family that already is falling apart. She asked not to be identified out of fear of being accused of betraying her friend’s family.

“It’s sad to see that this family is making news,” the woman said, with tears in her eyes. “This family is just gone.”

She remembered an incident several years ago that altered the course of the Lynch family. Alberta Lynch’s daughter met with an auto accident that left her in a wheelchair.

“While the parents were tending to the daughter, the son slipped through the cracks,” she said. “I know some people on the street don’t like people coming and going out of that house, but as far as I can tell, they haven’t bothered anyone else on the street.”

Last month, as a part of the same nuisance abatement program, the city attorney’s office filed two similar lawsuits against three properties in Hollywood and South Los Angeles. The cases are still pending.

Officials at the city attorney’s office said that they hope the court orders on the Venice and Marina Del Rey properties would bring about a significant reduction in the consumption and sales of narcotics in those areas. If that does not happen, they plan to go to court to try to force the sales of these properties. 

Looking around at his prosecutorial team, who were standing next to him at the press conference, and, shaking his head, Feuer said, “We want the drug dealing to stop.”

Reach contributor Sinduja Rangarajan here.