A new anti-camping ordinance has been approved by the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday. Critics called the ordinance too broad and said it will harm unsheltered Angelenos.
The law stops people from sitting, lying down and sleeping in certain types of locations around the city. The law will go to Mayor Eric Garcetti for final approval. If signed, it will go into effect 30 days later.
The ordinance, which modifies the current anti-camping law in Municipal Code 41.18, creates zones where setting up encampments or sleeping isn't allowed, including no camping within 500 feet of “sensitive” areas such as schools, day care facilities, parks and libraries.
A number of people called in to the meeting on both sides of the issue, including one resident who called the encampments of unhoused people “embarrassing, untenable conditions.”
"A person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs a city employee from enforcing this section or who willfully refuses to comply after being requested to do so by an authorized city employee" can face higher fines than a normal citation and a misdemeanor charge, according to the ordinance.
Mike Bonin was one of two city councilors to vote against the ordinance.
“We have shelter beds for 39 percent of the unsheltered population. What about the other 61 percent?” Bonin asked at the city council meeting.
Nithya Raman also voted against the ordinance.
Chelsea Shover, an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, told KNX the ordinance would cover about 40 percent of the city's available space.
“It would be hard for people to know where they could set up, since we don’t currently have enough beds in shelters to accommodate all the people that are unhoused,” she said.
“You can’t go to a shelter, and you can't stay here. Where are you supposed to go?”
Shover said she's concerned about unhoused people being punished for not understanding or knowing all the details of the ordinance.
Shover added the law fails to deal with the root causes of homelessness.