Tents once crowded the sidewalk outside the Hollywood Recreation Center, where the walkway remains clear. The city plans to soon take down the no camping signs. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-3 on Aug. 18 in favor of a motion by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez to remove 12 areas in the 13th District previously designated as no camping zones under Los Angeles municipal ordinance 41.18.

The no camping zones were primarily located at freeway underpasses in Echo Park, Silver Lake, East Hollywood and Hollywood and do not include Echo Park Lake. Two of the locations were in Hollywood at the Las Palmas Senior Center at 1820 N. Las Palmas Ave. and the park surrounding the Hollywood Recreation Center at 1122 N. Cole Ave.

Los Angeles municipal ordinance 41.18 prohibits sitting, lying, sleeping, storing, using, maintaining or placing personal property in the public right-of-way. The 41.18 locations repealed in the 13th District were designated for no camping in 2021 when homeless encampments occupied the sites, but the city has since cleared the spaces. Soto-Martinez said the 41.18 designations are no longer necessary, as plans are in place to offer resources to anyone who returns.

“These areas have been clear of encampments for a long time because our team connected everyone living there with housing and services,” Soto-Martinez said. “They’ve stayed clear not because of 41.18, but because our office built the district’s first-ever Homelessness Team and worked with trusted service providers to deliver outreach, mental health and addiction services, housing and other evidence-based solutions.”

The sidewalks and open space areas remained clear this week outside the Las Palmas Senior Center and Hollywood Recreation Center, which is currently under construction.

“I want to thank the council members who [are] supportive of this, because I do believe it is the right thing for my district,” Soto-Martinez said. “We did extensive outreach, and what we found was that in my district, 96% of the people we spoke to either agreed with removing zones or had no opinion on the matter. I’m very proud of our office’s approach and the enormous success we have had with the issue of homelessness. For three straight years, we have seen homelessness decline in CD 13, and since I took office, street homelessness has decreased by 40%.”

The no votes on the motion were cast by Councilwomen Traci Park, 11th District; Monica Rodriguez, 7th District; and Imelda Padilla, 6th District. Park, who represents Venice Beach, said the no camping zone designations have been an important tool in reducing encampments in her district.

“Managing our streets and our sidewalks and shared public spaces is a fundamental obligation that we owe to our constituents. It is not unreasonable for them to expect that they can have parks that their kids can play in, it’s not unreasonable for them to expect to be able to use our libraries and senior centers,” Park said. “In fact, I personally think 41.18 should be mandated around sensitive sites – all of them – and I have introduced legislation to expand 41.18 to critical infrastructure, environmentally sensitive areas and our high fire severity zones.”

“You shouldn’t have to continue to have to clear out repeated encampments that repopulate in locations. We are not clearing the decks for inviting new folks to move in,” Rodriguez said. “Families should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and 41.18 was never intended to be a solution to our homeless problem. In fact, quite the opposite. It’s about protecting public spaces for families who want to be able to take their kids to the park, to walk to and from school without having to walk in the street because the sidewalks are impacted.”

Padilla criticized Soto-Martinez, stating he did not support many similar motions that she introduced.

“I’ve got to be honest. I am very conflicted. I want to support you, but unfortunately, you haven’t supported me in communities like mine, communities of color, communities where people have worked so hard to be able to become homeowners,” Padilla told Soto-Martinez prior to the council vote on Aug. 18.

Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, 5th District, voted yes on Soto-Martinez’s motion, but has no plans to remove no camping zones within her district.

“The council voted to remove several 41.18 restrictions in Council District 13 at the request of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents that district. The vote did not end 41.18 citywide or change any existing restrictions in Council District 5,” read a statement from Yaroslavsky’s spokesman Leo Daube. “The councilwoman continues to support 41.18 as a tool for keeping public rights of way clear when it follows extensive outreach and offers of housing and services. We use it in CD 5 after encampments have been resolved to help prevent them from returning. Because these resolutions applied only to CD 13, she voted to respect the request of the councilmember elected to represent that district.”

Soto-Martinez’s spokesman Nick Barnes-Batista said the no camping zones in the 13th District were repealed immediately. The city is working with the appropriate departments to have the signs taken down, but there is no timeline for when they will be removed.