More than a dozen West L.A. business owners are fighting to prevent a set of 33 tiny homes from replacing a parking lot in their community.
The group has filed a lawsuit seeking a restraining order to block the construction project, but they say the issue isn't necessarily who will be housed there; the problem is losing the vital parking on Pico Boulevard and Midvale Avenue.
Leiauna Anderson is a member of the Midvale-Pico Coalition, which, according to its website, is a group of individuals from the neighborhood who "volunteer their time to organize the community to not only stop the ill-conceived Midvale-Pico interim homeless housing project but also to encourage the city to consider alternative, nearby options that will service more homeless individuals than the paltry number of 33 they plan to house."
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She tells KNX News' Nataly Tavidian that small business owners had no say in this project.
"It was just dropped on our laps last July," Anderson said, "and we were told things like 'it's a done deal.'"
Businesses, from hair salons to ice cream shops, all say they are losing customers due to the project.
Anderson said Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky "Completely disregarded the more than two dozen businesses and almost 200 employees who are going to lose their businesses and jobs." She says they are struggling and scared.
KNX News has reached out to Councilwoman Yaroslavsky for comment.
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