L.A. City Council delays vote for new limits on where homeless people can camp
Los Angeles is again considering a proposal to greatly restrict where homeless people may camp in public places around the city — rules that opponents say would criminalize homelessness.
The City Council on Wednesday spent four hours debating changes to the city’s code before President Nury Martinez decided to delay a vote to Nov. 24.
The anti-camping proposal would bar people from sitting, lying down or bunking down near schools, parks or day care centers. Tents couldn’t be set up near shelters or other facilities serving homeless people that have opened in recent years.
Those sleeping on the streets would have to keep clear from right of ways such as driveways and loading docks and leave enough room for wheelchair users to pass under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
One amendment to the law could allow authorities to eventually remove homeless camps anywhere in the city if the campers are first offered shelter as an alternative to sleeping on the street.
The council took up similar rules a year ago that […]