After a strip mall fire on Dec. 23, 2023, destroyed several businesses in the Vista Village Center, on the 25800 block of Tournament Road in Valencia, the shells of multiple businesses remain, while nearby businesses are still reeling from the aftermath.
As of Friday morning, the demolition is underway, with parts of the structure still standing.
After almost three years, and another recent fire in a small part of the center, Valencia Meadows residents and business owners alike urged the city to demolish the once-vibrant strip mall — not just for cosmetic reasons, but primarily for safety reasons.
“The property at 25800 Block of Tournament Road in Valencia has been an eyesore for far too long. This once-vibrant piece of our community has languished after the devastating fire in 2023, and the situation was exacerbated when it caught fire again in 2026. Living near this charred, looming structure has not only been distressing for homeowners, but it also poses a lingering threat to our safety and wellbeing,” the petition read.
According to the petition, the “concerned citizens of Valencia” urge property owners and the local government to fulfill a series of steps to properly support the community:
- To engage with local contractors to assess and demolish the remaining structure and debris.
- To ensure that the area is not associated with any additional hazards following the demolition.
- To communicate openly and transparently throughout the process, in addition to providing a timeline of events.
Of those urging for change are Haydee and Neal Scott, owners of Nealie’s Skillet.
Haydee took the podium during Tuesday’s Santa Clarita City Council meeting:
“I am here to address the fire hazard near my business, Nealie’s Skillet. I am here because I am desperate and afraid. I am here because I have not slept in nearly three years worrying whether our restaurant will survive another night because of the imminent fire danger surrounding us. I am here literally begging you for help,” Haydee said. “For those who may not know, nearly three years ago, a building burned in our parking lot. This July, the same building caught on fire again. This burned, empty structure sits only 30 feet from my restaurant. It is also 50 feet from the Valencia Villa Apartments, where families and young children live and play.”
Asking for the city manager and city attorney’s help in a public plea, Haydee described the restaurant as a way to feed their kids and live in Valencia — a place that the Scotts “love.”
“Squatters are in this abandoned building every single day and night. They light bonfires inside the structure at night to stay warm. If we are lucky, we get through the night without someone trying to break into our restaurant. In the 10 years we have been in business, we have had four break-ins. I have spoken directly, and very personally, to several of you council members about this fire, yet after nearly three long years, nothing has improved or changed. Nothing,” Haydee said. “Please do not give the property owner any more extensions for remediation. Three years has been plenty of time. Please make them fix it before we all pay a steep price … We need action before it’s too late.”
City Manager Ken Striplin provided an update following Haydee’s public comment:
“I completely empathize with the frustration of Mrs. Scott. We have been dealing with the property owner for about three years. We have a legal code requirement or process that we have to go through as it relates to working with a property owner who has to demonstrate progress, has to meet certain milestones,” Striplin said. “It has been a very frustrating process with this particular owner, as they have done what they needed to do to get over a legal hurdle to get that extra extension. We’re not giving them any extensions based on just trying to work with them and be nice — any extension that we’ve had to give them is because they’ve made certain progress.”
According to the office of Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang, the owner of the building is T H Investments LLC. — whose address is listed in the city of Encino. Neither the assessor’s office, nor the city of Santa Clarita, could provide any additional contact information for the business at the time of this story’s publication.
Striplin stated that a significant amount of effort has been taken in trying to fix the problem. Action included demolishing the structure within 30 days, which the property owner has now complied with.
“We have issued over nine citations to this property owner. Code enforcement is out there, I believe on a weekly basis, if not more — multiple times during the week. We have not been doing nothing, we have been actively working on it. Unfortunately, sometimes the legal process we have to go through requires us to go through a longer process,” Striplin said. “The city attorney’s office sent them a letter threatening legal prosecution. That did help motivate them in terms of demolition. The demolition permit was issued. They [are] to commence demolition within 30 days. The equipment was staged today … The next step is legal prosecution if they do not meet the timelines, fixing and bringing it back to where it needs to be.”
Neal expressed his frustrations the following day, on Wednesday, seeing the bulldozers directly in front of him, but not seeing anyone take action to start the process of the demolition.
“Two days before Christmas in 2023, a massive fire broke out. Happened at about 12:45 a.m. From what we’ve heard — we’ve never been told 100% what caused it. We just know that it most likely stemmed from the dry cleaner from overabundant amounts of chemicals. [The piercing shop] was three days from opening. They probably invested half-a-million dollars,” Neal said. “It’s beyond frustrating. If this building was a quarter-of-a-block up on McBean, it would be a whole different story. I think coming off [Interstate] 5, the city would never allow it to be here and like that.”
To Neal, the issue isn’t just how unappealing the building looks, but also the various types of people who have been attracted to the site in recent months.
“Part of the roof is broken there because the flames were flying out [in July]. There have been people sleeping there. The skateboarders go in there. People are [using the restrooms] thinking that there’s plumbing. There’sno plumbing, so now you just have feces sitting there,” Neal said. “I didn’t think that I’d have to try and figure out how to rebuild my business, because after 10 years — now I’m hearing, ‘I thought you guys disappeared with the fire. I didn’t think there was anything left in that shopping center.’”
Despite having been open since 2016, the Scotts had to learn how to rebuild metaphorically, while the destroyed building continued to be in their line of sight for years.
“Our business has been impacted because let’s say you dropped off your husband at the dentist, you’re not going to sit in the car. You’re going to come here and have a cup of coffee. There was a gym there. After the gym, people would come over, have some oatmeal. A smoothie. The chiropractor was the best — he would come over with his wife, have a veggie pizza, eat something for lunch, then go back to work,” Neal said. “The church had services. I’m losing now because they would have two Masses on Sunday, and all those people would leave Mass and come here and eat breakfast. Lost it all.”
Struggling with losing extra customers in a once-bustling plaza, Neal hopes for change in the near future.
“You look at the dentist, he was here 17 years, chiropractor 33 years, dry cleaner 33 years. It’s also been a fear with the Santa Ana winds coming, will this roof fall on us? Will something happen?” Neal said. “It’s been hard. My landlord hasn’t given me a discount. He still wants his rent at the end of the month. We still have to pay whether we’re doing good or bad business.”
Change at last seems to be imminent: On Friday morning, customers of Nealie’s Skillet sat in the restaurant’s outdoor patio and watched the bulldozers collect the demolished debris.
