LA Rejects Homeless Housing At Westside Beaches

MARINA DEL REY, CA — Several Westside beaches and proposed locations will not be used as homeless housing sites after a study from the City Administrative Officer confirmed the location is not feasible, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin announced Wednesday.

In a four-page report released Monday night, CAO Matt Szabo cited a lack of sewer infrastructure, lack of adequate power capacity, and the absence of fire hydrants as reasons Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades should not be used. The report came after Councilmember Mike Bonin's proposal to study whether or not Will Rogers State Beach, along with other Westside locations, could be successfully used as an emergency housing site for homeless residents.

In March, Bonin proposed a series of ideas for potential homeless shelters as a rising number of encampments grew in the pandemic. Those suggested locations were in Pacific Palisades, Mar Vista, Marina Del Rey, Playa del Rey, Venice, Del Rey, Westchester and West LA.

Szabo described why some of these locations were not considered feasible.

"Council District 11, like Council Districts 1, 5, 7, and 12, lacks City-owned land that can be used for homeless interventions," Szabo said in his report. "For these areas, we should continue to identify privately-owned sites that can be leased for homeless interventions and request that the Los Angeles Housing Department pursue properties under the Project Homekey 2 Program. Most of these districts benefited from Round 1 of Project Homekey. In Council District 11, two motels/hotels were purchased, and are now operating as interim housing."

Szabo also deemed Dockweiler State Beach, Westchester and Mar Vista Park, and a privately owned vacant lot near the Ballona Creek as ill-suited locations for homeless housing. RV park sites at Marina del Rey and Culver City are still under assessment for feasibility, while Los Angeles World Airports was in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration about using airport land for homeless housing.

The following locations will NOT be used as homeless shelter locations:

• The parking lot at Will Rogers State Beach, Pacific Palisades.
• Dockweiler State Beach, Playa del Rey.
• A privately owned lot at 5000 Beethoven Avenue, Del Rey.
• Part of the West LA Municipal Building for interim shelter.

Councilmember Mike Bonin confirmed in an email Monday night that after the results of the study, he would not pursue the idea of installing housing for the homeless at Will Rogers State Beach parking lot, instead of searching for alternative ways to increase the amount of available housing.

"I had asked the City to examine a variety of locations because we are facing an urgent and growing crisis, and unhoused residents, housed residents, neighborhood councils and federal judges had asked me to explore tiny homes and sanctioned camping with services, security, and sanitation," he said. "I refuse to accept the status quo of encampments everywhere and people dying on our streets, and I will leave no stone unturned in searching for alternatives. I appreciate those who share that sentiment, and supported conducting a feasibility study."

The decision this week follows weeks after the Encampment to Home initiative in Venice, an effort to provide housing for the unhoused living along Ocean Front Walk. It started June 28 with outreach teams from St. Joseph Center. So far, about 200 people have moved from living on the Venice Beach boardwalk to indoor housing.

"A metric that people are judging this by is how the boardwalk looks, and that's a reasonable one, but the metric that really matters is how many people have been brought indoors and how many lives are being transformed for the better," Bonin said. "It has demonstrated that when offered real housing, people jump to say yes, people want to be housed."

- Patch Editor Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 10:24 a.m. Thursday with additional information.

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