The homeless situation has gotten completely out of control in Venice but there is a solution.
The City can and must go back to enforcing the “no sitting, lying or sleeping on a sidewalk” ordinance.
This
ordinance (LAMC 41.18) is still on the books.
All the City has to do to be able to
use it again is to prove to the court that over the last 8 years the
City has built or funded the building of 1,250 units of permanent
supportive housing. The City's Housing Department predicted that figure
would be reached last October.
The
Resolution below will be submitted to the newly elected Venice Neighborhood
Council for action and from there, we hope, to Councilman Bonin and Mayor
Garcetti.
We
want to show them that there is plenty of support in Venice to break up
the encampments, move them away from residences and at the same time
offer rapid re-housing to those campers who want it.
If you support this approach please send your name and address to the VSA at:
Your address will not be released publicly; we are asking for it to establish that you are a Venice resident.
We have over 140 sponsors at the time of this posting.
Resolution Calling for the City of Los Angeles to Conclude
the Jones Settlement and Return to Enforcement of the “No sitting, lying or
sleeping on a sidewalk” Ordinance (LAMC 41.18 (d)) within 300 Feet of a
Residentially Zoned Property
Whereas, the current City practice of allowing encampments
of transients to exist right next to residences is intolerable and uncivilized,
depriving residents of sleep, free use of sidewalks and a zone of safety and
quiet next to their homes, and
Whereas, individuals in these encampments frequently
trespass on the property of nearby residents, to defecate and urinate, to
engage in theft and vandalism and burglary, or to store their possessions; and
Whereas, tents allowed in such encampments routinely
entirely block sidewalks and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and
force both the able and disabled into the street to pass; and
Whereas, the City fails to enforce the requirement that no
tent be erected before 9 PM and all tents be dissembled by 6 AM; and
Whereas, the City fails to enforce the existing bar on
sitting, lying or sleeping between 6 AM and 9 PM; and
Whereas, the City fails to enforce LAMC 56.11 banning bulky
items, attachments to fences and walls, and limiting possessions stored on
sidewalks to that which can be contained in a 60 gallon City trash receptacle;
and
Whereas, encampments are breeding grounds for disease, rats
and insects and produce tons of trash which in Venice is driven in the rainy
season directly to storm drains and then into Santa Monica Bay; and
Whereas, LAMC 41.18 is still in effect and the only
impediment to its enforcement is the 2007 Jones Settlement, in which the City
agreed in a civil lawsuit to refrain
from enforcing 41.18 until it had built or caused to be built 1,250 units of
permanent, supportive housing; and
Whereas, the Los Angeles Housing
& Community Investment Department produced a report in early 2015 that anticipated
that the City would meet the requirements of the Jones Settlement by October of
2015; and
Whereas, eight months have elapsed since October of 2015 and
it can be reasonably assumed that the City has now more than met the target of
1,250 units of permanent, supportive housing; and
Whereas, Captain Nicole Alberca, Commander of the LAPD
Pacific Division, has recently stated that officers who are making daily
contacts with campers in Venice report an increase in out of state youth 18-26
years of age, both males and females, who refer to themselves as
"drifters" or "travelers" and do not see themselves as
homeless and as such, they have not accepted outreach for housing placement;
and
Whereas, Tim Pardue, the former director of the Teen Project
P.A.D. on Market Street, has reported that approximately 70 percent of their
16-24 year old clients are from out-of- state; now
Therefore, be it resolved that the Venice Neighborhood
Council calls upon Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and the Housing & Community
Investment Department to immediately present to the United States Court of
Appeals, Ninth Circuit, a list of the permanent, supportive units built over
the last nine years in satisfaction of the settlement and that the City
Attorney petition for the settlement to be declared satisfied and null and
void; and
Be it further resolved that the Venice Neighborhood Council
calls upon the Councilman Mike Bonin, the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor
Eric Garcetti to immediately amend LAMC 56.11 (the ordinance limiting storage
on sidewalks) to bar any storage of personal possessions (other than a bicycle for
24 hours or less) on a sidewalk, parkway, alley or street within 300 feet of
any residentially zoned property for more than one hour; and
Be it further resolved that upon the vacation of the Jones
Settlement the Venice Neighborhood Council calls upon the Los Angeles Police
Department to begin warning anyone sitting, lying or sleeping within 300 feet
of a residentially zoned property that they are in violation of LAMC 41.18; and
Be it further resolved that the Venice Neighborhood Council
calls upon Councilman Mike Bonin and Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles
Homeless Services Authority (or social agencies acting on their behalf) to
offer shelter beds, shared housing, Section 8 housing, transitional housing or
transportation to safe family members at the same time and in conjunction with the
LAMC 41.18 warnings by the LAPD; and
Be it further resolved that in instances when an individual
acting in violation of LAMC 41.18 refuses to either leave the area within 300
feet of residences, or to accept housing or transportation to a safe family
member, the Venice Neighborhood Council calls upon Los Angeles Police
Department to cite the individual for violating LAMC 41.18 and if future violations
occur, to secure a stay-away order to prevent that individual from returning to
camp out in Venice.
