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Venice News Updates

News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA

Bonin Approves Innovative Means to Get People off the Streets

Posted by :reta On : February 3, 2017
9

Category: Councilman, Homeless, Housing

Tags:,

LOS ANGELES – Continuing his work to help get homeless people off the street quickly, Councilmember Mike Bonin has proposed legislation calling on the city and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to elevate a strategy of “shared housing” – a fast, effective and proven method of getting people off the street by matching them with roommates.

“Shared housing is a fast, nimble and cost-effective solution for many of those who need immediate housing,” said Bonin. “There are already great shared housing programs helping people in Los Angeles, and the city should make investing in this smart and fast solution a higher priority as we look to make the most of limited housing vacancies.”

With tens of thousands of people living on our streets, Bonin and his colleagues have made addressing homelessness and finding housing and shelter for as many people as possible as quickly as possible an urgent priority. Last November, voters approved Proposition HHH, which authorizes $1.2 billion for permanent supportive housing throughout Los Angeles. Many, if not most, of those units will take years to come online, and Bonin’s legislation was introduced to focus city resources as housing is built on efforts that can be taken quickly and in the meantime to house people.

Shared housing programs match individuals (including homeless persons or people at-risk of homelessness with their own source of income) to make the most of housing vacancies. One such program underway in Los Angeles is offered by Self Help And Recovery Exchange (SHARE!) on the Westside. SHARE! estimates that approximately 30% of homeless people in the County are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which could help offset rental costs in some of the SHARE! units. SHARE! identifies people who, despite not having enough to afford a place to live, have some source of income, and then helps match those people with others in a similar situation so that the combined income can offset the cost of housing and maximize the number of people using affordable housing units.

“SHARE!’s program is a great example of an innovative approach to getting people off the street quickly,” said Bonin. “This is exactly the sort of thing we should be investing in as the housing that will be produced by Proposition HHH is built.”

Shared housing was discussed at a Homelessness & Poverty Committee held late last year, where representatives from the LAHSA reported that in addition to pursuing a shared housing study, two pilot programs were being undertaken to investigate the feasibility of shared housing and expanding this model Citywide. Bonin applauded that work and introduced his legislation to ensure the City would continue to increase priority given to investing in and expanding shared housing.

In addition for asking LAHSA to move more quickly and encourage service providers to use shared housing to move people off the streets quickly and nimbly, Bonin also asked the City Administrative Officer to identify $50,000 in the city’s homelessness budget to fund a shared housing pilot program in his district.

The push for shared housing is one of several strategies Bonin has been pursuing to more quickly house people who are homeless. Bonin also:

    Launched with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl the C3 program – “County, City, Community” – to provide outreach, counseling and housing to the Venice’s homeless population

    Allocated $62,000 to Regina and Steven Weller and the Homeless Task Force to focus on housing people quickly through family reunification efforts and shared housing.

    Successfully fought for $18 million dollars in the city budget for rapid rehousing vouchers.

    Endorsed and pledged seed money for a Rapid Reunification Program being developed by the Homeless Committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council.

    Visit 11thdistrict.com/shared_housing_legislation to read Bonin’s legislation and to find out more.

City Homeless Committee Hears and Approves Thatcher Yard, Venice Median

Posted by :reta On : December 7, 2016
2

Category: City, City Attorney, City Property, Councilman, Homeless, Housing, Thatcher Maintenance Yard, Triangle, Venice Median Parking Lot

Tags:, , , ,

By Kip Pardue

Note:  Pardue has reference to the LA City Committee on Homelessness and Poverty that met 7 December in LA to discuss the contractors for the surplus properties, such as Thatcher Yard and Venice Median.

Just got back from the meeting at City Hall and wanted to  pass on some notes to you all…

I walked in at 9:09 and there was already a line of speakers and no more speaker cards.  I did not get a chance to speak but many spoke against the Venice plans — usually bringing up the obvious economic folly of this entire thing (help at most 250 homeless in 5 years time at a cost of $100m OR raise $100m now and help thousands TODAY).  Several people spoke in favor as well – these people were mostly affiliated (read: make money – Linda Lucks was there speaking, Becky Dennison, etc) with Venice Community Housing (VCH).  The few others who spoke in favor lived in a Safran development (pretty unlikely that they just “showed up”).  Many others wanted to speak but the comment segment of the meeting was cut short due to “time constraints.” Incidentally, that is exactly the same reason the Business Improvement District (BID) was brought up for a revote….

So Far CAO Has Made All Decisions

What happened today is the City Homeless and Poverty committee agreed in principle to an ENA (exclusive negotiating agreement) with the selected developers for the 5 city lots (8 total lots, 2 are to be sold, 1 has been pushed – more on that later, and 5 to be developed).  Bonin made a point of saying that he has not seen ANY plans – he has no idea what has been proposed for each lot by each developer.  The only people that have seen these proposals are the City Administrative Officer (CAO) “board” which ultimately made the decisions to develop or sell.  They ostensibly used the developers previous experience as a determiner as well.

If this is true, it means that a completely anonymous board of unelected officials whom we have zero contact with is making decisions about our neighborhood that affect us tremendously.  A group that has zero accountability, zero responsibility to our neighborhood, zero involvement with the public is setting the course for our lives.  They are doing so without input or ideas from the communities most affected and without recourse from the elected officials (in our case, Bonin).

If this is true, it also means that a body completely unconnected to Bonin and without Bonin’s approval, has given the go-ahead to two of Bonin’s biggest donors to develop.  They made this “choice” from 49 proposals.  They chose a company that has zero experience developing a property like the Venice median lot, has only developed one building in its history (and that was accomplished with a partnership), and has a horrible track record of maintaining properties (Venice Community Housing VCH).  At the very least, Thomas Safran Associates has SOME experience developing these types of projects…but I still find it incredibly coincidental that Safran would get 2 projects of 5.  The collusion is blatant.

Bonin reiterated some points:

No plans have been submitted and there will not be plans without community outreach.  Since VCH has never done this type of project, who knows what their community outreach will be.  I can guarantee that Becky Dennison doesn’t really care what we think – she has already said that “there is no neighborhood there (Venice medial lot area, ie: MY NEIGHBORHOOD).

All plans will be subject to approval – just like any other development.  He also said they will be subject to EIR and Coastal Commission approval.  Yet another factor that the CAO board conveniently “forgot” when looking at feasibility for the Venice lots.

Bonin wanted to know if the ENA could last longer than a year (“because nothing gets built in a year in Venice”) and also wanted to know what would happen “if it became clear that nothing was going to work on that property.”  He was basically asking if the City has an “out” and could one day rethink this entire plan.  The answer is yes, that could happen.  That was Bonin’s way of tossing us a bone…and we should continue to guide this process as much as we can along the way.  There will be meetings and it will be hard, but we have to show up and voice our concerns as we learn more.

Bonin Says All Units Must be for Homeless

Bonin was very concerned about the rumors of some of these projects having “market-rate housing” built on them.  He will not stand by that.  He feels the entire purpose of these lots being developed is for low-income/housing for the homeless.  A mixed-use with market rate housing is out of the question for Bonin.  There was also some question about permanent supportive housing being mixed with low income housing – something that to my knowledge (and to Bonin’s) does not exist – but apparently PSH can be labeled as such if 50% of the units are PSH and the other 50% are something else.  But regardless, if Bonin gets his way, there will be no market rate housing on these lots.

Bonin also asked the board to readdress the lot in Manchester that is being recommended for auction.  He felt like it would be a good site for a Habitat for Humanity project.  He had no details, no plan, no idea what that actually meant….but he had been at en event and someone brought it up and now it is going to be explored.  THAT IS HOW THIS MAN THINKS ABOUT OR NEIGHBORHOOD.  He has an idea…and he waves his hand and some committee with no accountability or authority, goes off to make it so…just like that.  A complete 180 degree turn on a property all because Bonin thinks it might be a good site for something from Habitat.

Finally, the portion of the meeting about housing came to an end with the Councilman from the 8th district (Marqueece Harris-Dawson) saying that his community already deals with homeless enough and thinks “wealthy” communities should start to do their part and not kick the problem around.

Note:  Venice is second only to Santa Cruz in state as far as having a high homeless ratio to resident.  It is 1 homeless person to 40 residents.

With that, every single person associated with VCH and homelessness in general left the room.  The meeting, however, was still VERY MUCH about homelessness and in particular about vehicular dwelling.  Difficult questions about where (industrial v residential areas, number of spots – the committee felt 25 per district was enough, Bonin pushed for 50 and reassessing after 6 months), about who, and about how vans and RV’s would be dealt with…but not one person there from VCH actually cared about those people or those solutions.  They only care about the money they stand to make on building housing.  They are only interested in their tired old model that has gotten us into the mess we are in today.  They strutted out of the room — happy that they will profit while people sleep on the streets and in their cars for YEARS until this housing is built.  It’s sickening and vile. I have never seen such a smug group of self-righteous people in my life.  They truly think they are doing the “right” thing and will not listen to anyone who questions them.  They hide behind being “good,” but they showed how little they care when they cleared out that room while important decisions were still being made.

 

City Homeless Committee Approves Thatcher Yard, Venice Median Projects

Posted by :reta On : December 7, 2016
6

Category: Affordable Housing, Development Projects, Homeless, Housing

Tags:, , , ,

By Angela McGregor

The Los Angeles Homeless and Poverty Committee met at 9 am, 7 December to approve entering into exclusive negotiating contracts with developers for permanent supportive housing projects on eight city-owned properties, including the Thatcher Yard and Venice Median lots.

Residents of the neighborhoods affected by this development were not officially notified by the city, and members of the Oxford Triangle Association were notified of it via an email from Mark Shockley, around 5 pm 6 December, after the Association’s attorney noticed it on the city’s website. At least a dozen opponents of these projects arrived by the announced meeting time of 9 am, only to be met with a room full of proponents of the projects who had apparently been formally notified and had arrived early enough to fill out the majority of the speaker cards prior to 9 am. Public comment was cut off at 9:15. Among the notable comments:

Dan Whalen, one of the members of the Oxford Triangle Neighborhood Study group, pointed out that the neighborhood is small, entirely zoned for single family residential housing, and already plagued with traffic problems, and pleaded with the committee to consider an alternate, more appropriate location for such high-density development.

Linda Lucks, former VNC President, said that she favored such developments because they would restore the economic diversity that had been lost in Venice due to gentrification.

Mark Ryavec, candidate for CD11 Councilmember and President of the Venice Stakeholders Association, asked that any plans for such development in Venice be held in abeyance until after the March elections, and that the concept of such developments be put before the Venice Neighborhood Council so that the community would have a chance to weigh in on them in light of what seems to him to be enormous community opposition.

Two formerly homeless, current residents of Safran projects in Del Rey spoke in favor of the project as well.

During the Committee’s discussion, mention was made that proposals had been featured in social media (possibly a reference to the Safran Group’s response to Venice Update’s questions), in particular that the projects might include a majority of market-rate housing. Councilman Bonin insisted that he had not seen any proposals and that none had been approved, nor would they be without both VNC and Coastal Commission approval. “I have instructed these developers not to come to me with proposals until they’ve worked out their plans with the community,” he stated. Furthermore, while by law such developments only have to include 15% permanent supportive housing , he said including such a large amount of market-rate housing, which “is effectively luxury housing, on the Westside” was “unacceptable” to him, and would be tantamount to a “bait and switch”. He said he would not approve any project which did not predominantly consist of housing for the formerly homeless, in line with the stated goals of the City’s plan to combat homelessness via funding available due to Proposition HHH, which passed in November.

The exclusive negotiating agreements, which would expire after one year, were approved. Councilman Bonin pointed out that it would no doubt take longer than a year to build these projects in Venice (“nothing gets built in Venice in less than a year”), and the point was made that the City can pull out of the agreements if the projects don’t “pan out.”

The meeting adjourned at 10 am.

Can “Neighborhood Integrity Initiative” Stop Venice Median, Thatcher Yard?

Posted by :reta On : November 19, 2016
2

Category: Affordable Housing, City Administrative Officer, Homeless, Housing, Local Coastal Plan (LCP)

Tags:, , , , ,

Many Venetians have pointed to the “Neighborhood Integrity Initiative”
as a stopper to the homeless projects planned for Venice. The initiative goes on the ballot in March.

The initiative is intended to stop “spot rezoning” for large projects that disrupt the “integrity” of the community, and in many cases, re-identify a community. The initiative calls for a two-year moratorium first.

Affordable Housing is Exception but not General Plan Change
One of the exceptions to the initiative is “affordable housing.” But the initiative also states that the project must be consistent with the General Plan.

Rezoning that is planned for the two Venice projects is not consistent with the General Plan, so a Plan change would be necessary. Of particular interest is Section 4.B which deals with General Plan changes and Section 4.E which deals with the affordable housing exemption.

The Venice Median is zoned “open space” and the plan is to rezone it R-3, which is a zone for apartments. The Thatcher Yard has been used as a “public utility,” since becoming part of Los Angeles. This might fit under industrial use as stated. But the intensity of going from flat land to apartment-type use is definitely addressed under 4.B.1,2,3.

Section 4 Temporary Moratorium Stops Council Approvals of Projects that Seek Spot Zoning and General Plan Amendments to Intensify Land Use

B. Notwithstanding any section of the Los Angeles Municipal Code and during the effective period of the moratorium imposed by the Act no project that seeks a General Plan amendment, a zone or height district change shall be approved by the City Council if such approval would result in:

1. changes of existing zoning to permit more intense land use (as defned by a zone change from a more restrictive to less restrictive zone according to the Los Angeles Municipal Code section 12.04A, or to a height district permitting the construction of a higher structure); or

2. an increase in floor area ratio, density or height; or

 3. a net loss of land zoned open space, agricultural or industrial.

E. Exceptions. The moratorium prohibitions specified in this Section 4 of the Act shall not apply:

1.  to any project in which 100% of the units are deed restricted Affordable Housing Units, that seeks a zone change or height district change only, but not a General Plan amendment.

An Affordable Housing Unit is defined as a unit that is affordable to households with a gross household income at or below Low Income levels (including Extremely Low Income and Very Low Income) as determined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (or successor agency) for Los Angeles County on an annual basis, and that is rented or sold for no more than the percentage of gross household income required by Health and Safety Code section 50052.5.

Wrede Writes in Response to LA Times Calling Venetians NIMBY

Posted by :reta On : November 3, 2016
1

Category: Councilman, Homeless, Housing

Tags:,

homeless
Illustration shows that within three square miles Venice will have three major projects–Westminster Senior Center Storage, Venice Median, and Thatcher Yard. In addition Venice will have the MTA lot. Venice already has more homeless than any other city in Los Angeles.

Note: Wrede responds to all the Venetian NIMBYism proclaimed by the LA Times. No one from the Times seems to want the Venetian side of the story.

By Chris Wrede

In recent months, the Los Angeles Times has lauded the Los Angeles City
Council, and especially Councilmember Mike Bonin, for plans to build
taxpayer-funded apartment buildings for the homeless on city land.

According to a recent memorandum from Los Angeles’s Chief Administrative Officer, members of the City Council have so far identified eight lots — measuring more than half-a-million square feet – for this purpose.

All in Venice
Four of the lots are in Bonin’s district, and two of those –
representing 40% of the total square footage that has been designated
for homeless housing citywide – sit just a mile from one another in
residential sections of Venice. Bonin has also tagged small lots for
development in Westchester and West Los Angeles, but 80% of the Westside land he plans to use for homeless housing is in Venice, with no construction at all planned for other parts of his district, like the Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Mar Vista and Playa Vista.

Venice is also the only neighborhood in all of Los Angeles in which more than one non-contiguous lot has been selected for development, and to date, 10 of the 15 members of the City Council have not made any lots available in their respective districts for homeless housing. Indeed, Bonin has volunteered as much land – almost entirely at Venice’s expense – as the other 14 members of the City Council combined.

Some accuse Venice residents who oppose Bonin’s plan for Venice of
“NIMBY-ism.” That is false and unfair. Venice has a long tradition of
embracing people from all walks of life, including the homeless and
others in need, but Bonin’s plan would place disproportionate and
crippling burdens on our community.

Getting the full measure of Bonin’s plan for Venice is not easy. Bonin
has held just two public meetings on the topic and did not provide
meaningful details at either of them. And Steve Lopez incorrectly
suggested in an October 22, 2016 article on the Los Angeles Times
website that Bonin’s plan consists merely of a single housing project
and a single storage facility.

Penmar Park Storage
In truth, Bonin is pushing the two homeless housing projects referenced
above, as well an affordable housing development (which enjoys broad
support among Venetians), one or two storage facilities (one rumored for the popular Penmar golf course and the other currently under
construction at Westminster Park), special lots for overnight parking
and toilet access, mobile shower services, and 24/7 access to toilets
and showers for the massive beach encampment that now extends from
Windward Avenue, at the southern edge of the Boardwalk, up to Santa
Monica.

Westminster Park Storage
Bonin’s plan for a storage center at Westminster Park triggered outrage
among many parents – and a lawsuit by neighborhood organization Venice
Kids Count – because Westminster Park is directly across the street from an elementary school and is limited, per a standing court order, to “recreational” use.

No Restrictions on Tenants
The housing projects Bonin wants to erect in Venice would have no
restrictions as to the use of drugs or alcohol, and no funding has yet
been secured for services of any kind, which would have to be provided
(if at all) by the County.

Del Rey Project
A housing project in Del Rey that Bonin touts as a success cost $500,000 per unit to build. Under the City Council’s housing scheme, as championed by Bonin, taxpayers give private developers land and capital at the front end, and the same developers collect market-rate rents on the back end – also paid by taxpayers, through bonds, taxes and entitlement programs.

Note: Becky Dennison, director of Venice Community Housing, says land acquisition and structure, which is totally handicapped provided, was 7.38 million, which equates to 351,428 per unit for the 21 units, 20 tenants and one resident.

Venice measures less than three square miles and already provides more
beds and services for the homeless – and more affordable housing – per
capita than any place in Los Angeles outside of Skid Row. If Bonin gets
his way, Venice as a whole will be transformed into a de facto dormitory for the homeless, with permanent homeless facilities in every corner of our community.

No Security
Finally, even Bonin does not pretend that his plan, which has no
meaningful provisions as to security or law enforcement, will reduce the encampments that already litter the beach, Rose Avenue, the streets
surrounding Gold’s Gym, and so many other parts of Venice. In a recent
study by UC Santa Cruz, 75% of the homeless population in Santa Cruz
said they believe homeless are drawn to Santa Cruz by a combination of
the climate and services. Expanding services in Venice on the scale
Bonin proposes without any measures addressing inevitable migration to
Venice from other homeless hubs will only make a bad situation worse.

Venice is proud of its inclusive heritage, and we want to do our part to address the Citywide homeless epidemic. We are not wrong, however, to demand better – much better – from our elected representative to the City Council. Bonin should table his plan for Venice until he and the other members of the City Council can come up with a comprehensive, evenhanded strategy that respects the rights of Venice’s families, fairly distributes the impact of homelessness across the City as a whole, and ensures that the taxpayers’ investment will truly work to reduce homelessness in all parts of Los Angeles.”

LA Gets 65 Million in State Funds to Build for Homeless

Posted by :reta On : October 13, 2016
1

Category: Homeless, Housing

Tags:, , ,

LA Times reports that Los Angeles won nearly 65 million of greenhouse gas funds which are earmarked  to finance affordable housing near job centers and transit in order to reduce car trips.

The money allows for 553 below-market units to be built, the office of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced.   Nearly 350 of those residences are for formerly homeless individuals and planned for projects with supportive services. The remaining are for low-income households, who are increasingly struggling to afford a home in one of the nation’s most expensive cities.

See LA Times article.

 

 

Granny Units Get Easier … Is It Goodbye to R-1 Zoning

Posted by :reta On : October 8, 2016
2

Category: Business, City, Housing

Tags:, ,

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday (4 Oct) signed Senate Bill 1069, making the so-called “granny units” easier and less expensive to build throughout the state. Should one wave goodbye to R-1, the single-family dwelling, zoning? Read article.

Under the new law, which takes effect in January, water and sewer agencies would be prevented from charging hookup fees for accessory dwelling units (ADU) built within an existing house or an existing detached unit on the same lot. Local agencies also cannot impose parking rules for certain ADUs, including those located within a half-mile from public transit, or units that are part of an existing primary residence.

Mike’s Plan for “Ending Homelessness in Venice” on Prop HHH Brochure

Posted by :reta On : September 23, 2016
13

Category: Councilman, Homeless, Housing, Thatcher Maintenance Yard, Uncategorized, Venice Median Parking Lot, Westminster Senior Center

Tags:, , , , , ,

Mikeplan
Councilman Mike Bonin presented his plan to End Homelessness in Venice, 29 March of this year. It has since been dubbed “Mike’s Plan” and the Councilman now refers to it as Mike’s Plan.

 

Councilman Mike Bonin has a mailer coming out in support of Proposition HHH, which would according to the brochure, “authorize $1.2 billion in bonds to build permanent supportive housing and affordable housing for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.” This money would be used to pay for the projects proposed in Venice.

Note: The Councilman asked if Update would post his brochure. Update posts flyers but this brochure-flyer could not be duplicated. Also Update does not normally print Proposition information but since this pertains to Venice and the homeless, the facts and figures have been reproduced here but not the photos.

Data from 2016 LAHSA Homeless Count

In Los Angeles there are 28,464 homeless individuals, of which 21,338 are not sheltered. Females make up 33 percent, males 67 percent

In Venice there are 758 homeless individuals, 72 family members. Females make up 19 percent, males 81 percent.

homeless1
This is a breakdown of the ages.

homeless2
This is a breakdown of the circumstances.

 

Mike’s Plan

BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING

MTA BUS YARD

Mike and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl have proposed that the former bus yard located at 100 Sunset Avenue in Venice be turned into housing, with a significant portion dedicated to affordable housing for people making at most 60% of the area median income (about $33,000 a year).

CITY PROPERTIES

The City is asking affordable housing developers to evaluate every city-owned property that is surplus, vacant or under-used and consider proposing housing there (alternatively, the city may sell the properties and use the funds to build housing elsewhere). The first round of properties under consideration are: a former Fire Station in Westchester, a former Animal Shelter in West LA, the former Street Services Yard in the Oxford Triangle, and the parking lot on the Venice Boulevard median.

 

PROVIDE HOMELESS HOUSING

WESTSIDE HOUSING

The neighboring community of Del Rey has recently welcomed a series of housing projects for the home- less, including: PATH Villas (23 units), Gateway Apartments (21 units) and Del Rey Square (12 units).

DELL/PACIFIC LOT

Mike is proposing building housing for the homeless at the surface parking lot located between North and South Venice Boulevard and Pacific and Dell avenues.

VENICE FORWARD

Venice Forward is a new collaborative created to more rapidly move people into housing. The cooperative venture between government, social service agencies, businesses, and residents embraces the “Housing First” philosophy, which rapidly moves people into housing and supportive services.

EXPANDING RAPID REHOUSING

The City is expanding its funding for Rapid Rehousing – rental subsidies and services. RRH is the most effective and efficient intervention for more than 50 percent of homeless individuals and families. RRH is also more cost effective than other options.

 

EXPANDED SERVICES AND OUTREACH

TREATING MENTAL ILLNESS

The County Department of Mental Health has reopened Exodus Recovery Treatment facility, and now offers Urgent Care beds for those in a mental health crisis. Additionally, the County funds and St. Joseph Center operates the Venice Chronic Homeless Assertive Case Management Team — an intensive Mental Health unit that focuses on treating the most vulnerable individuals on the street.

HEALTHCARE

Integrated mobile health teams now provide street-based health and mental health treatment to chronically homeless and severely mentally ill individuals in Venice. Integrated teams (supported by the County, City, and local nonprofits) reduce the number of costly emergency room visits by people living on the street.

TRAINING FIRST RESPONDERS

LAPD Officers are now being trained on how to best respond when interacting with people who might have a mental illness. Special teams include officers and mental health professionals who help assess people with mental illness in the field. LAPD and Bureau of Sanitation officials are now also working with homeless outreach specialists to provide shelter and housing to people living on the streets.

211 AND VENICE FORWARD

People concerned about homeless neighbors or people in crisis living on the streets can log on to www. VeniceForward.org to ask a service provider to respond. Residents may also call the County’s 211 line, and after selecting their language, dial 7 to be connected to a community resource adviser.

OUTREACH TEAMS

The City recently added additional Homeless Emergency Response Teams to offer services to people who are homeless or at risk of experiencing homelessness, including direct emergency services and transportation, shelter, and outreach services to homeless encampment dwellers. Mike is supporting the work of LAPD Chaplains Regina and Steve Weller with a $62,000 grant. The Wellers have placed hundreds of homeless people in housing, focusing on family reunification and shared housing placements.

 

STREET STRATEGY

STORAGE

In order to keep our streets and sidewalks clean, the courts have made it clear that the City needs to offer people who are homeless alternatives to leaving their belongings on sidewalks. The City is asking Chrysalis to operate a voluntary storage program at the former Westminster Senior Center on Pacific Avenue.

SHOWERS

Lava Mae, a San Francisco-based non-profit that provides mobile showers for people who are homeless, is planning to launch a pilot program in Venice this fall.

BATHROOMS

The Department of Recreation & Parks will be opening some of the beach restrooms 24 hours per day to allow tourists and people who are homeless an alternative to defecating on public and private property.

SAFE PARKING

The City Council is considering legislation to create a program similar to one operated in Santa Barbara, allowing small numbers of people who live in their cars or RVs to park safely in non-profit, church or city parking lots overnight, where they have access to restrooms and can be connected with service providers.

 

PRESERVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

 

MELLO ACT REFORM

Mike has proposed legislation to reform and strengthen the Mello Act, the law that protects affordable housing in the coastal zone, making it harder for developers to reduce or eliminate affordable housing in Venice.

SHORT-TERM RENTAL REGULATIONS

Mike has proposed legislation governing short-term rentals, preventing rogue operators from buying entire buildings, removing rental and affordable units from the market and converting apartments into permanent short-term rentals.

 

Sobel Writes VNC Board that Ryavec Motion Figures Are Incorrect

Posted by :reta On : August 16, 2016
1

Category: Homeless, Housing, LAMC 41.18(d)

Tags:, , , , ,

Attorney Carol Sobel has written to the Venice Neighborhood Council asking the board to consider the facts, the numbers involving the Ryavec motion regarding suspension of the Jones Settlement and reenforcement of LAMC 41.18(d).

Carol Sobel believes the figures Mark Ryavec is relying on for his motion are incorrect and furthermore that the City figures which he bases his figures on are incorrect as well.

She further states that using these figures “would put the City at risk of losing considerable federal funding necessary to build the housing LA so desperately needs to address the ever increasing problem the City faces.  The federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) is imposing a point penalty on applications from government entities that implement policies of  criminalizing homelessness.”

The Jones settlement, which Carol Sobel and the ACLU effected,  required the City to suspend enforcement of LAMC 41.18(d) between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am until 1250 units of Permanent and Supportive Housing (PSH) was created.  Of the 1250 units, half were required to be created in Skid Row or in the adjacent downtown area.

Below is Carol Sobel’s letter to the Venice Neighborhood Council along with supportive documents.

Sobel1

sobel2

sobel3

sobel4

sobel5

sobel6

sobel7

sobel8

Four Residences Dropped In

Posted by :reta On : August 14, 2016
0

Category: Housing, Uncategorized

Tags:,

duplexes

Four units, two duplexes, prefabricated units were lifted by crane into place last week. Crane was up to specifications for city streets but broke a water main. The 700 block of Brooks was without water for 12 hours.