By ALEXANDRIA BORDAS | Reporter
With prime fire season approaching, members of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH) teamed up with Inspector John Novela of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to address fire hazards posed by trespassers and homeless encampments.
Maryam Zar, president of PPTFH, and Brian Deming met Novela on Saturday, June 13 for a ride along to determine areas that are most vulnerable to brush fires due to illegal camping.
“The biggest concerns in our office are the risks open fires and cooking along the hillsides pose to Palisades residents,” said Novela, who has eight years of fire brush research experience and has been with LAFD for over 33 years. “All of the hillsides in the Palisades are in high fire areas and we don’t want people on trails that aren’t established.”
During the ride along, Zar noted areas that she believed needed increased signage, including Marquez Canyon, Temescal Canyon and areas within the Huntington.
“If we don’t get enforcement it will continue to grow to a point where we can’t even touch it,” Zar said. “But pushing them (the homeless) around isn’t going to solve it, the solution is bigger than just moving them because that’s not sustainable.”
Bruce Schwartz, the Head of the PPTFH’s Government Relations Subcommittee, has been actively involved with local government officials and Novela to secure the fire hazardous hillsides in the Palisades.
Over a year ago, Schwartz became increasingly frustrated by lack of enforcement in the hillsides and said he was tired of watching the problem go from bad to worse. So he came up with a solution that LAFD agreed was “near perfect.”
“I though to myself, if a fire marshal condemns a building as a violation of the health and safety of the public, what about the public health and safety in the hillsides?” Schwartz said.
Since Schwartz first questioned the depth of the health code last January, multiple closed-door meetings have taken place with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Novela, Norman Kulla of Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office, two city attorneys and members of the PPTFH.
“It is important to make sure we have legal authority to remove people from the bush and make sure we aren’t violating human rights,” Schwartz said. “Once we get these signs posted we can put folks on notice that they’re camping illegally.”
All of the existing signs have been updated to reflect the new Municipal Code, 57.4908.8, and an increase in fines to $1,000 plus penalty assessments. Future signs will also include a 72-hour warning for illegal campers to be issued by law enforcement.
“It is a warning to folks. We don’t have enough signs yet, but it does give the city more enforcement and if there are signs we are hoping people will think twice about what they’re doing,” Novela said.
But there’s a catch: who’s funding the sign project?
According to Novela, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) doesn’t see a need to get involved and also doesn’t have the funding. It’s the same with the LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks.
“Everyone is trying to work on the issue of funding the signs because that’s the biggest problem,” Novela said. “But I know the Palisades task force [PPTFH] is working with communities to fundraise for this project.”
One neighborhood is already on board.
“The Highlands community is ready to go with the signs,” Zar said. “They already know where to put them and they’ve raised the money.”
On the ride along, the sheer number of people who have created a sustainable community within the hills surprised Zar. She said the scope of the problem really came to life for her on the ride along.
“Conceptually and statistically we know they (the homeless) live there, but when you see it and see how they carve out homes on the hillsides for their belongings, you understand what it means that they live there,” Zar said. “The mountainside looks like a community of people, sipping their morning coffee together like you see people doing in any other neighborhood.”
Zar said she had a moment where she realized the homeless campers she was seeing on the ride along were seeking out a living the best way they knew how.
She challenged herself further and asked, “Who am I to say they can’t live their life like that?”
Zar and the PPTFH are moving forward with plans to fundraise $500,000 to hire Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) to aid in their mission to “compassionately address homelessness in the Palisades.”
“OPCC can help with getting them (the homeless) housing options as well as a number of other options OPCC has to offer,” Zar said. “OPCC is exciting and broad reaching. They are out on the streets engaging people and educating residents on how to positively interact (with the homeless).”
Both Schwartz and Zar are hopeful about the future state of homelessness in the Palisades.
“The task force knows how to get things done and Inspector Novela worked hard to get this done. It’s definitely a ‘we’ effort,” Schwartz said.
Zar said realistically homelessness isn’t an issue that can ever fully be eradicated, but she is motivated by the community coming together to diligently tackle the problem.
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