(Photo courtesy of John Betz.)
The rewritten LAMC 85.02, defining where and when live/sleep vehicles can park on city streets, will go into effect and be enforceable 7 January.
The new LAMC 85.02 prohibits live/sleep vehicles in residential areas during the hours of 9 pm to 6 am and at no time within 500 feet of a park, licensed school, pre-school or daycare facility. Posted city parking restrictions will remain in force. They will be able to park in commercial/industrial zoned areas.
This law will sunset 1 July 2018.
The new code is as follows:
SEC. 85.02. REGULATING THE USE OF VEHICLES FOR DWELLING.
A. Use of Vehicles for Dwelling Restricted on City Streets. No person
shall use a Vehicle for Dwelling as follows:
1. Between the hours of 9:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. on any Residential
Street; or
2. At any time within a one Block radius of any edge of a lot containing
a park or a licensed school, pre-school or daycare facility.
Nothing herein precludes the enforcement of any other laws such as parking restrictions, including, but not limited to, prohibitions on overnight parking.
B. Definitions: As used in this section:
1. Block is defined as 500 feet.
2. Dwelling means more than one of the following activities and when
it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances, that a person is using a vehicle as a place of residence or accommodation:
Possessing inside or on a vehicle items that are not associated with ordinary vehicle use, such as a sleeping bag, bedroll, blanket, sheet, pillow, kitchen utensils, cookware, cooking equipment, bodily fluids. Obscuring some or all of the vehicle’s windows. Preparing or cooking meals inside or on a vehicle. Sleeping inside a vehicle.
3. Residential Street means any street which adjoins one or more
single family or multi-family residentially zoned parcel.
4. Vehicle means any motor vehicle, trailer, house car or trailer coach
as defined by the California Vehicle Code.
C. Penalty. A first violation of this section shall be punishable as an infraction not to exceed $25. A second violation of this section shall be punishable as an infraction not to exceed $50 and all subsequent violations of this section shall punishable as an infraction not to exceed $75. Violators may be eligible for referral to a prosecutorial-Ied diversion program such as the Homeless Engagement and Response Team (HEART).
D. Sunset Provisions. The provisions of this section shall expire and bedeemed to have been repealed on July 1, 2018, unless extended by ordinance.
E. Severability. If any portion, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this section is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such a decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this section. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each portion or subsection, sentence, clause and phrase herein, irrespective of the fact that anyone or more portions, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.
Enforcement
The City Attorney’s letter dealt with the enforcement situation and wrote to the City Council members the following:
City Council sought to enforce the draft ordinance through the City’s Administrative Citation Enforcement (ACE) program. However, the ACE program relies on the violator having a current and valid mailing address. Based on information provided by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and others, people who use their vehicles to dwell often do not have reliable mailing addresses. Therefore, the ACE program is not suitable as a tool to enforce the draft ordinance.
In order to establish enforcement that meets the goals of City Council, the draft ordinance provides for the issuance of infraction citations with a penalty structure requested by City Council: $25 for first violation, $50 for the second violation and $75 for third and subsequent violations. A violator can pay the fine or appear in court to challenge the issuance of the citation. Alternatively, a violator may seek eligibility for dismissal of the citation through participation in the Homeless Engagement and Response Team (HEART) program or similar prosecutorial led diversion program.
The City will provide public outreach concerning information about where people can vehicle dwell on City streets. Public outreach will be coordinated with LAHSA and homeless service providers through the creation and distribution of maps developed by the City denoting the streets on which vehicle dwelling is allowed. The maps will be made available on the City’s website and updated regularly.
The adoption of this draft ordinance will allow the City to collect data for an environmental analysis of permanent regulation of vehicles used for dwelling on public streets.
