By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
Councilmember Mike Bonin submitted a motion to city officials on Wednesday, March 31, to evaluate and identify funding for supportive housing sites across West Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades.
“Faced with resistance from city bureaucrats, this week I submitted a broad motion instructing the city to identify funding for a range of potential sites and programs throughout the district,” Bonin said in a statement. “The proposed sites include locations in Pacific Palisades, Mar Vista, Marina Del Rey, Playa del Rey, Venice, Del Rey, Westchester and West LA.”
Bonin requested the use of the county-owned parking lot at Will Rogers State Beach, located at 17000 CA-1, as a temporary site for single-occupancy tiny homes or safe camping. Other temporary sites proposed include single-occupancy tiny homes, safe camping or safe parking at Parking Lot #3 at Dockweiler Beach; RV safe parking at the county-owned RV park at Dockweiler Beach; and single-occupancy tiny homes or safe camping at the Fisherman’s Village parking lot in Marina del Rey.
“Each of these locations will require feasibility analysis from city agencies, and will be subject to public hearings if they move forward,” according to a newsletter sent from Bonin’s office Saturday, April 3.
Supportive housing has been previously approved in Venice, Del Rey, Westchester and Brentwood.
The Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness said the organization would like to be involved in early discussions.
“That is our focused mission and we believe that early community involvement in constructive dialogue and a collaborative process is essential for working through potentially difficult issues,” Co-President Sharon Browning said to the Palisadian-Post.
Browning said PPTFH hopes to have more information to discuss by the time of its next board meeting on Monday, May 24, and for an appointed field representative to be available to provide preliminary information about the steps involved in the evaluation process and timeline.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council announced plans to discuss the matter during its Thursday, April 8, meeting with Council District 11 Field Deputy Len Nguyen.
Since the motion was made, community members have expressed their opposition. Palisadian Jon Brown created a petition to “say no” to Bonin’s motion. More than 5,700 opponents of the motion signed Brown’s petition on change.org as the Post went to print Tuesday evening.
“We can’t figure out the logic or thought process that [led] Mr. Bonin and his co-sponsors to set up these tiny villages throughout the city, but our [5,000-plus] signatures gathered in just three days seem to suggest that many of us are completely baffled at why he has proposed this motion,” Brown said to the Post. “Hopefully, we can deter the city from moving forward with this and force them to find a better solution to supporting our homeless community and respecting every Los Angeleno.”
A representative from Bonin’s office told the Post the next step is a hearing in the Homelessness and Poverty Committee, the timing of which is determined by that committee’s chair.
“None of the locations we’ve identified are ideal, and I’m always open to other suggestions,” Bonin shared on Twitter on Monday, April 5. “But we’ve looked long and hard. There are no ideal places on the Westside, but that doesn’t reduce the need or urgency to act.”
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