Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen
Podcasts AirTalk
City, homeless advocates disagree on new law limiting homeless people’s property
solid blue rectangular banner
()
AirTalk Tile 2024
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

Mar 31, 2016
Listen 10:30
City, homeless advocates disagree on new law limiting homeless people’s property
Whatever can be fit into a 60-gallon container is what the homeless are allowed to store on sidewalks, alleys, and parkways in the city of Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 28:  A member of a clean-up crew looks at belongings of a homeless person on a public sidewalk February 28, 2013 in downtown skid row area of Los Angeles, California.  Los Angeles officials will ask U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling preventing the destruction and random seizures of belongings that homeless people leave temporarily unatteneded on public sidewalks. The lower court ruling has hindered cleanup efforts.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
A member of a clean-up crew looks at belongings of a homeless person on a public sidewalk February 28, 2013 in downtown skid row area of Los Angeles, California.
(
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
)

Whatever can be fit into a 60-gallon container is what the homeless are allowed to store on sidewalks, alleys, and parkways in the city of Los Angeles.

Whatever can be fit into a 60-gallon container is what the homeless are allowed to store on sidewalks, alleys, and parkways in the city of Los Angeles.

That’s according to a new law the city council passed in a 13-1 vote on Wednesday.

A revised version of the law known as 56.11 says the homeless can store as much as can fit in a bin the size of a city trash can. The city can confiscate and hold for 90 days anything that can’t fit in that bin, so long as it gives 24 hours of notice. Another part of the law would have restricted belongings to what could fit in a backpack if the city provided general storage, but the council backed off of those regulations.

The law isn’t sitting well with some homeless advocates, who argue the law puts enforcement ahead of storage and that it would be cheaper to just build more housing. The lone no vote on city council came from Gil Cedillo. Councilman Mike Bonin, whose district represents Venice and parts of the Westside, says the law opens up the city to lawsuits and that he only voted yes because the law that was in place was even worse.

Do you think the new law goes too far or not far enough? Do you think this is the right way to deal with the homeless problem?

Guest:

Joe Buscaino, Los Angeles City Councilmember representing District 15

Carol Sobel, a civil rights attorney who has represented L.A.'s homeless in federal courts

Credits
Host, AirTalk
Host, All Things Considered, AirTalk Friday
Senior Producer, AirTalk & FilmWeek
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Associate Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Apprentice News Clerk, AirTalk
Apprentice News Clerk, FilmWeek