OPINION

End the fires, move homeless to vacant lots near LAX

By Clark Brown

During the week of Oct. 16 there were two fires in a vacant house on Flower Avenue in Oakwood. Neighbors saw and heard transients camping and partying in the house shortly before both fires. There is a large homeless encampment a block away on the corner of Flower and Lincoln. On Oct. 2, there was a fire in the Canals, which destroyed a house under construction and seriously damaged two neighboring houses. A neighbor saw transients in the house under construction shortly before the fire. There are homeless encampments nearby on South Venice Boulevard and the Grand Canal Extension and on North Venice Boulevard near the intersection of Electric Avenue. These encampments violate the city’s Anti-Camping Ordinance, LAMC sec. 41.18, which, among other things, prohibits blocking sidewalks and public rights of way which the above encampments do. But three binding federal court decisions bar the city from enforcing its ordinance unless it has places to which it can move its homeless. Fortunately, the city has those places. These are three vacant, multiacre parcels of land around LAX. The first is at the corner of La Tijera and Westchester Parkway. The second is at the corner of La Tijera and Century, and the third is at the corner of 111th Street and Aviation. All these sites could be used immediately to provide safe camping and safe parking for homeless person and thereafter tiny home villages. (Discussion and pictures of such uses are readily available on the internet.) Hope of the Valley in cooperation with the city has used similar sites to develop six tiny home villages in and near the Valley, which have provided almost 900 beds for homeless persons. Ken Craft, HOV’s CEO, has inspected the three parcels and said HOV could easily and quickly develop them for homeless persons. The city has the money to do this because it has almost $2 billion in its current budget to address homelessness. There are issues about these sites but none are meritorious. The sites are located in Westchester. Westchester residents have objected to LAX Parcel No. 1 claiming it will interfere with nearby residential uses. This objection is without merit. Parcel 1 is separated from the residential uses to its north by massive brick and masonry walls, which the city built to block airplane noise to the residential areas. There are some gaps in the wall, but the city could easily cover them with additional walls. Due to the walls and the adjacent golf course, there are almost 2 miles between the entrance and egress points of Parcel 1 and the residential neighborhoods to its north. Thus, Parcel 1 is very different from the Bridge Home at Sunset and Pacific in Venice, for the latter is across the streets from facing residential uses. Hence, the Bridge Home residents are in the immediate vicinity of those uses. That is not the case with the proposed homeless uses on Parcel 1. Westchester has not objected to Parcels 2 and 3, and there would be no basis for such objection for both parcels are located on the very outer edges of Westchester and are entirely surrounded by industrial, commercial and airport uses. There are no nearby residential uses, schools or churches. The city has loosely claimed it cannot use these parcels for residential uses because the city purchased them under its eminent domain powers when they were residences and the FAA bars the city from reusing them for any other residential use, including for its homeless population. The city has also loosely claimed it cannot use these parcels for its homeless population because it has plans to develop them for other uses. The city has not, however, produced any writings or other evidence to support its loose claims, and it is clear there aren’t any writings. Early this year I served seven document requests on the city under the California Public Records Act, that specifically required the city to deliver to me any writings which supported its loose claims. The city repeatedly stated in writing it did not have such writings. On the contrary, writings they did produce show the FAA will discuss with the city using these parcels for homeless shelter. Finally, the homeless uses above described will be short-term uses until permanent housing can be developed for the homeless. Thus, they will not interfere with the city’s long term plans for the parcels. Councilman Mike Bonin will not do anything to remove the homeless from Venice. Hopefully, the new councilperson for CD11 and the new mayor will use the LAX lots to help end the fires and other homelessness related problems in Venice and elsewhere in the City. Clark Brown is an elected member of the Board of the Venice Neighborhood Council and Community officer.

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