By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
Pacific Palisades community members and officials have continued to respond to Councilmember Mike Bonin’s submitted motion to city officials to evaluate and identify funding for supportive housing sites across West Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades.
Bonin first submitted a motion on Wednesday, March 31, requesting the city to look into 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 to shelter people experiencing homelessness.
Other temporary sites proposed include Parking Lot #3 at Dockweiler Beach, the county-owned RV park at Dockweiler Beach and the Fisherman’s Village parking lot in Marina del Rey.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council Executive Committee sent a letter to officials—including Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA City Council President Nury Martinez—on Monday, April 19, regarding the motion.
“At this time, we respectfully urge that the Will Rogers State Beach and Dockweiler Beach parking lots be removed as proposed locations for homeless housing in connection with ongoing settlement negotiations and/or as part of the Sheltering Plan for [Council District] 11,” PPCC said in their letter.
A formal board vote is slated to take place on Thursday, April 22, and PPCC is expected to submit its Position Statement to the Homelessness and Poverty Committee shortly after.
PPCC emphasized the importance of preserving public access to the beach as a public resource—a sentiment shared by many in the community.
“For over 60 years Pacific Palisades Residents Association has worked to protect and preserve the neighborhoods and the coastal mountain environment of Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas,” PPRA President Jessica Rogers said to the Palisadian-Post. “The flaws in what the motion conceives are numerous and obvious. We cannot allow for the destruction of our environment nor the safety of our beach communities to be put at risk. A better, safe and viable solution is possible for the homeless and our environment.”
PPCC board members and LAPD Officer Rusty Redican have said that the proposed site also poses a high risk of individuals jaywalking into traffic on Pacific Coast Highway.
“Any of the parking lots at [Will Rogers State Beach] are simply not practicable or safe locations for these resources,” Redican said. “It is not hyperbole to say that it would be a matter of time before … something catastrophic occurred.”
The Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness said while it supports tangible efforts to implement solutions, services and access to permanent supportive housing for the homeless population, “We do not believe that this motion, as written, adequately supports these goals nor provides an effective solution,” representatives said in a statement submitted to the Post.
A representative from Bonin’s office told the Post the next step for the proposal is a hearing in the Homelessness and Poverty Committee, the timing of which is determined by that committee’s chair.
As part of a federal lawsuit filed in 2020, city, county and homelessness officials have been asked to conjure solutions to the region’s homelessness problems.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction in the federal lawsuit on Tuesday, April 20, ordering local governments to develop a report within 30 days that identifies available land in their district.
“Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks and highway systems due to the inaction of city and county officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn,” the ruling states. “Within 30 days, City Controller Ron Galperin shall oversee the creation of a report on all land potentially available within each district for housing and sheltering the homeless of each district. The homeless have been left no other place to turn to but our beaches, parks, libraries and sidewalks, and it is pivotal that they no longer rely on spaces that enhance quality of life for all citizens.”
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