Should The Ramada Inn Be Converted To Homeless Housing?

VENICE, CA — Venice and Marina del Rey locals are responding with mixed feelings and frustration to the proposal to convert the Ramada Inn to interim housing for unhoused people.

The Ramada Inn at 3130 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey was sold in December for $10M to the city of Los Angeles to convert to homeless housing. It's part of Project Roomkey, which uses vacant hotel and motel rooms to house people experiencing homelessness.

The city says this is a solution that could help unhoused people, and that tourists can rely on "ample supply" of Airbnb or other "boutique brand" hotels for affordable stays. Some neighbors disagree and have accused the city of pushing homeless people to Venice, creating tensions among residents they believe could backfire and lead to even more homelessness in the area.

In a tense virtual community meeting this month with the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering and PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) about the Ramada Inn converting to homeless housing, several neighbors shared how they don’t feel safe in Venice and Marina del Rey.

Neighbor Anna Roca says she no longer walks around Venice at night, and that it's putting families, particularly children, in a bad position.

"Nobody has mentioned our children and the schools that we live near," Roca said. "There is a school of children from kindergarten all the way to fifth grade, not to mention we have St. Mark’s and on the same street, we have a preschool. Nobody seems to address what is happening to our children."

Roca says the area is becoming less safe for residents.

"My house got shot at in December," Roca said. "I got assaulted at 9 a.m. walking down the street with a guy with a pipe."

A person was naked outside her house one day, Roca added.

"This is becoming a matter that is uncontrollable," Roca said. "The crime here in this city has increased so much. It is just insulting to our community and it’s insulting to us."

Children under age 10 can’t walk around the block, Roca said.

"You have to live in this neighborhood and you have to have children to understand how much worse it is," Roca said.

Bob Clark has lived in Venice for 42 years. Clark says the homeless population has grown in Venice, especially in recent years and amid the pandemic.

“The vast majority did not come from Venice," Clark said. "They did not lose their housing or homes in Venice. They came from outside."

Clark referred to the beautiful beach and warm climate as a major draw for unhoused people—and that the city was pushing unhoused people to Venice.

"They should be sheltered where they came from, not in the Venice area," Clark said. "The more you invite people in the more homeless people there will be."

Kevin Gallagher is a homeowner in Venice. Gallagher says he has had to pick up human feces and needles in his alley.

"Like some other people have said, people don’t want to come to Venice anymore and I’ve got several friends that have been longtime residents that have moved away," Gallagher said. "I’ve been threatened by homeless, my 10-year-old son has been threatened by homeless."

He described that there are four projects for unhoused people within two miles.

"Why are we repurposing the hotels? How many repurposed hotels would solve the problem?" Gallagher asked.

He recommended that the area needs drug enforcement, specifically a focus on methamphetamine drug use. He cited drug activity and homicides in the area.

"Look at the BRIDGE housing and that is an utter failure," Gallagher said.

Gallagher and other residents argued that Bridge Housing hasn’t worked, that it's contributed to a rise in recent crime and the ongoing drug addiction and mental health crisis. It's also impacting tourism, some say.

Steve Sanders lives across the street from the Ramada Inn and is concerned about development along the coast, raising concern about the public's participation—citing multiple hearings can create confusion and people don't know the full scope of the project, which includes more than just the Ramada Inn.

"The applicant's proposal is not carefully planned, as we see from recently learned local crime statistics, this housing project is very high-risk for the neighborhood where it is being placed," Sanders said. "Recreating some of the BRIDGE failed home model that we have been devastated to other areas of the Venice Beach community seem ill-conceived. I request that you please deny this request until the applicant can provide a more reasonable project, one that houses permanent and stable individuals that do not pose such a serious threat to the community, one that protects the economic and social well-being of the people currently living and working in this coastal zone neighborhood. Can we please come up with a more sustainable solution?"

Brennan Linder lives three streets from the project.

"I want to highlight that we've been talking that Venice is a resource and destination for all but with the current conditions it's evident that this is severely threatened," Linder said. "You only need to read the reviews of social media these days describing Venice as "disgusting," "filthy" and people should go elsewhere."

Some residents are concerned about the impacts on tourism and beach access for locals.

"There is an overconcentration of homeless projects in Venice, which will impact access for everyone to the beach and the desire to go to Venice," Linder said. “If Venice is a coastal resource then we should treat it as such.”

"The city and the service providers are continually adding more homeless projects and homeless individuals, yet there's no overall management plan for the overflow and security of these projects, that is the biggest problem," Linder said. "Yes, we need low-cost housing. Yes we need services, but you have to manage the overflow."

Linder explained how even more tents have been added to Ocean Front Walk just since January, citing the recent murders, rape and assaults.

"If these projects are going to be built, the city of Los Angeles must provide safe access for residents to go to the beach," Linder said. "It's not possible. My own daughter last summer and her friend, 11 years old, were sexualized by two homeless individuals of which they started fighting and my daughter's friend's father had to shuffle them away. This is the typical occurrence. This is not being treated as a cultural resource or safe public access."

"Venice is no longer a desired location for people to come to," Linder said. "It's systematically being destroyed by these projects, both by the city and the providers who are not looking at how it's impacting the overall area."

Some people stand by converting the Ramada Inn to housing for homeless people.

Eileen Bryant Archibald supports the project, but has questions, saying many people have been gentrified out and it’s important to include the Venice unhoused first.

"I fully support this project with conditions to review the safety, with it being mandatory to include the Venice houseless first," Archibald said. "We have many who are the street because they've been gentrified out."

Archibald says she has had problems on her street, but she also raised her children in Venice.

"I feel very safe in my neighborhood. I know where to walk," Archibald said. "We had homeless who slept in the school, they're still sleeping in the school. If you proceed with compassion and love and provide the resources they need and stability, people will improve."

A recent homeless count found that 1,685 homeless people are living in Venice, Christopher Yee of LAHSA told Patch. That number appears to have increased in 2020, according to the city.

Project Roomkey has housed 6,150 people since it was launched last March to protect unhoused Angelenos from COVID-19 by housing them outside of congregate shelters.

A new winter shelter for people experiencing homelessness was added in January at Oakwood Recreation Center in Venice.

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we've focused our efforts on protecting the lives of our unsheltered neighbors," said Heidi Marston, Executive Director of LAHSA. "Our new winter shelter in the Oakwood Recreation Center will help bring people indoors at a time when weather is unpredictable, and robust testing strategies by the LA County Department of Health Services help keep shelter participants and on-site staff safe."