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A controversial 33-bed interim homeless housing facility proposed on the city’s Westside received unanimous support from the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, Oct. 20, despite continued objections by critics who say there are at least two other locations within the same council district – but further from residential homes and local businesses – that would be more appropriate.
In a 14-0 vote with one councilmember absent, the City Council approved nearly $4.6 million in construction costs for the project at 2377 Midvale Ave. and 10901 W. Pico Blvd., two adjacent parcels across from the former Westside Pavilion that currently operates as a city-owned parking lot.
The housing facility, slated to open next year, will back up to single-family homes along Midvale Avenue and be next to small businesses immediately along Pico Boulevard.
A yard sign opposing an interim homeless housing facility at 2377 Midvale Ave. on the Westside is seen here on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s district. The 33-bed facility, which will be built on a city-owned parking lot at Midvale Avenue and Pico Boulevard, is opposed by critics who say there are other sites within the district that would be better suited for homeless housing because they’re not near residential homes or local businesses. (Photo gy Dean Musgrove)
An interim homeless housing facility on L.A.’s Westside that the Los Angeles City Council approved is seen here on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s district. The 33-bed facility, will be built on a city-owned parking lot at Midvale Avenue and Pico Boulevard, is opposed by critics who say there are at least two other sites within the district that would be better suited for homeless housing because they’re not near residential homes or local businesses. (Photo by Dean Musgrove)
An interim homeless housing facility on L.A.’s Westside that the Los Angeles City Council approved is seen here on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s district. The 33-bed facility, will be built on a city-owned parking lot at Midvale Avenue and Pico Boulevard, is opposed by critics who say there are at least two other sites within the district that would be better suited for homeless housing because they’re not near residential homes or local businesses. (Photo by Dean Musgrove)
Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents Council District 5 where the interim homeless housing project will be built, and Mayor Karen Bass both support the project. But for months, they’ve heard from nearby residents and business owners who oppose it.
In comments before the City Council’s vote on Friday, Yaroslavsky acknowledged those who oppose the project and pledged to do her best to make the project a success.
“I’m committed to doing right by you and the entire neighborhood,” Yaroslavsky said, addressing those who live or work near the project site, about two dozen of whom attended the City Council meeting.
Yaroslavsky pledged to work with the community, police department and service provider to develop “a robust neighborhood security plan.”
“And if it becomes clear after this project opens that it isn’t working, we will make any necessary adjustments or, if absolutely necessary, we’ll shut it down,” Yaroslavsky said.
“But let me be absolutely clear: We need these beds. I wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t,” she continued.
The councilmember, who was elected last November, said that of the roughly 16,000 interim homeless beds throughout the city, only one-half of 1% – or fewer than 100 units – are in her Council District 5, and none are for the general adult population, ages 18 to 55.
Yaroslavsky also pledged that before the project breaks ground, she would secure extra parking for the businesses along Pico Boulevard whose employees or customers will lose access to the parking lot where the interim housing facility will be built.
Community members who oppose the project continued to voice anger after the City Council’s vote.
Mike Toofer, a father of three young children, purchased a home several blocks from the project site two months ago before he became aware of the project. He’s concerned that the site is within walking distance of his home and near two elementary schools and a children’s bookstore.
He and others say they’re worried that this will be a so-called “low-barrier” housing facility, where most people experiencing homelessness can move in unless they’re a registered sex offender. They say it’s inappropriate to place drug addicts or people battling mental health issues so close to a residential neighborhood and small businesses trying to thrive.
Toofer said in an interview that Yaroslavsky’s pledge to shut down the facility if necessary brings him little comfort because it’s unclear how the city will determine whether the program is successful or not.
“What is ‘worse comes to worse’?” he asked. “What does that mean? What if there are homeless people who are doing drugs in front (of the facility) consistently? Does that constitute a failure? … What if they’re bringing prostitutes into a residential neighborhood? Does that constitute a failure? … We don’t know what the metrics are.”
Meanwhile, others at Friday’s meeting expressed support for project.
Benjamin Passino, who lives in Council District 5, thanked the City Council after its vote for “favoring people over parking.”
“Hopefully this is the first step to … moving from temporary housing to full-on housing” for homeless people, he said.
Toby Muresianu, who lives about two blocks from the project site and is a member of Westside for Everyone, a housing advocacy group, described in an interview how he met a homeless man named Bill late last year who did not fit any of the stereotypes of being a drug addict, alcoholic or mentally unstable person but who simply was down on his luck.
Muresianu said he only knew Bill for about a month before he died from pneumonia during the heavy winter storms around January, while living on the streets. Muresianu said Bill had previously been offered shelter in what Muresianu described as a large open space, like a gymnasium, but he passed on the offer to wait for space to open up at a shelter where he could have his own room.
It’s not unheard of for unhoused people to say they would prefer sleeping on the streets to what essentially amounts to a cot in a large warehouse, and that sometimes they feel safer on the streets.
Muresianu said it’s not unreasonable for people to want a private room with a door for security.
“That’s what the Midvale project represents,” he said.
The Midvale facility will include housing units with en suite bathrooms, onsite laundry, storage and social services.
Barbara Broide, president of the Westwood South of Santa Monica Boulevard Homeowners Association and a member of the Westside Neighborhood Council, which opposes the project, said she and others have suggested to city officials alternate sites within Council District 5 that they believe would be better suited for opening an interim homeless housing facility.
Those sites, she said, would not be in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and there is space to accommodate more than just 33 beds. At least some of these sites also have a kitchen, whereas the site on Midvale will not, and meals will have to be transported to the facility daily, she said.
“The city should do no harm,” she said in an interview before Friday’s City Council meeting. The Bass administration’s efforts to address L.A.’s homelessness crisis is intended to “do good,” but by placing shelters in inappropriate locations, Broide said, “this is hurting the whole city’s homeless strategy.”
Leo Daube, a spokesperson for Yaroslavsky, said one benefit of the Midvale property is that it is already owned by the city, which will cut down on the city’s costs because they won’t have to purchase new land.
But Broide said approving a project in a wrong location will result in city officials losing community buy-in for future projects.
“Good luck to any future bond measures or programs because people don’t feel this is being done responsibly,” she said.
In August, Bass and Yaroslavsky attended a rowdy meeting with angry community members to discuss the Midvale project where, at one point, the mayor threatened to shut down the meeting if people refused to quiet down, the Los Angeles Times reported.
To add to the drama, on Monday, Oct. 16, the mayor removed the president of the city’s transportation commission, Eric Eisenberg, from the transportation commission. The letter informing Eisenberg of his dismissal, which Eisenberg shared with the Los Angeles Daily News, did not offer an explanation for his sudden removal — other than to say that Bass would be naming a new person to Eisenberg’s position.
The mayor’s office did not respond to an email Friday asking why Bass chose to remove Eisenberg, whom she had just reappointed to a new term several weeks ago.
In an interview on Thursday, Eisenberg said he believed Bass removed him because, when the commission met last week to vote on the Midvale interim homeless housing project, he suggested delaying the vote since no one from the city’s Bureau of Engineering was there to answer commissioners’ questions.
“I didn’t feel comfortable that we could move forward until we had gotten the opinion of the Bureau of Engineering,” said Eisenberg, who said he wasn’t looking to delay the vote by months. In fact, the former commissioner said he’d already scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, Oct. 18, when he received notice that the mayor had removed him from the commission.
“I believe 90% that my release had to do with the fact that I didn’t rubber-stamp it,” Eisenberg said about the commission’s vote on the Midvale project.
“If it’s wrong to schedule a meeting four (business) days later — in order to have the commissioners make an informed decision — then I don’t want any part of that,” he said. “We are serving at the will and pleasure of the mayor. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to the constituents.”
Eisenberg, who had been on the transportation commission for at least a decade and served as president for several years, said the way he was treated sends the message that appointees to local government positions will face punitive actions if they’re unwilling to simply rubber-stamp votes.
He further said that while he did not express support or opposition to the Midvale homeless housing project while on the transportation commission, he does not believe that site is appropriate.
Like Broide, the Westside Neighborhood Council member, Eisenberg expressed concerns that not getting community buy-in for this project will hurt the Bass administration’s future efforts to bring more homeless housing to other neighborhoods.
“If it’s government force-feeding their ideas on communities that they don’t understand, every shelter, every (homeless housing project) is going to be a battle,” Eisenberg said. “It shouldn’t be a battle. It should be a cooperative effort.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to clarify what was stated in the letter to Eric Eisenberg about the status of his position on the transportation commission.
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