VENICE- Councilmember Mike Bonin asked the City Council to allow temporary shelters, like A Bridge Homes and Project Roomkey Hotels, to be made permanent and to amend parts of the municipal code to allow shelters to be built in residential areas next to nonprofit organizations and religious institutions.
In a motion submitted this week to the Homeless and Poverty Committee and the Planning and Land Use Committee, Bonin and Nithya Raman stated that temporary shelters for the homeless are allowed on City-owned and City leased properties in any zone, including residential and business, therefore wants nonprofit and religious organizations to be able to do the same.
In his motion, Bonin states that the Los Angeles homelessness crisis requires the City to be innovative and cut red tape wherever possible. “The number of people sleeping on our streets every night far exceeds the beds we can offer,” said Bonin.
Bonin stated that there are churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other properties owned by nonprofits that are eager to be part of the solution but are barred based on the location of their property. “We need to continue to work to make it as easy as possible for these charitable organizations to build and operate homeless shelters in the City.”
Bonin has pushed to have shelters put up in residential areas for years—but, residents say a lack of rules and regulations at Los Angeles shelters, including allowing drug and alcohol use, creates a toxic environment and is not appropriate for residential areas—including near sensitive areas like schools.
Through open records earlier this year, residents in Westchester learned that Bonin had proposed a temporary shelter across the street from an elementary school. The school, located at 8740 South Emerson Avenue, serves children from preschool through 8th grade. Residents gathered 400 signatures in opposition to the project that was eventually tabled after Bonin lost support from Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Bonin also proposed putting a winter shelter across from an elementary school in Venice last month. That project was also tabled after residents and a group called Venice Kids Count said the location was inappropriate because it would put kids at risk.
Bonin also asked the city to report back in 45 days with options that identify streamlined processes to allow existing and new emergency temporary shelters to extend their operation or be made permanent “to provide greater certainty on potential future operation under the LAMC.”
The extension would mean places like the A Bridge Home’s (ABH) and Project Roomkey Hotels across the City, including Venice, could become permanent.
Venice residents say the Venice ABH has been a disaster from the get-go and making it permanent would be disastrous for the community.
The motion was seconded by Bob Blumenfield and will head to the City Council for a vote.