The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday banning homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and day care centers. The measure passed by an 11-3 vote, with Council members Mike Bonin, Nithia Raman and Marquis Harris-Dawson dissenting. The ordinance amends a city law that regulates where homeless encampments can be located. Municipal Code 41.18 prohibits sitting, sleeping, lying down, or otherwise obstructing public transit in many areas. The council voted 10 to 1 in favor of the ordinance last month, with Bonin the lone dissenter. However, a second vote had to be held on Tuesday to pass the measure because the initial vote was not unanimous. LA CITY BOARD GREENLIGHTS BAN ON HOMELESS BUILDERS WITHIN 500 FEET OF SCHOOLS, DAY CARE CENTERS People at a homeless encampment at Toriumi Plaza at 1st St and Judge John Aiso St in Los Angeles. ((Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)) In addition to banning camps near schools and daycare centers, the ordinance expands Municipal Code 41.18 to include anywhere within 2 feet of a fire hydrant or fire hydrant, within 5 feet of any operable or usable entrance or exit, within 10 feet of a loading dock or road or cycle paths or other on-road areas. It also imposes prohibitions on ways that interfere with activities for which the city has issued a permit or anything that limits accessible transit as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Existing law already protects the public right-of-way within 500 feet of “sensitive” facilities, which include schools, nurseries, parks and libraries – although that part of the law only applies if each specific site is designated for enforcement by the council . The amendment was previously approved by the council’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee. Proponents of the ordinance say it protects children. Councilor Mitch O’Farrell also argued at the council meeting that it is inaccurate to claim that homeless people have nowhere else to go. He said the city has many successful and robust programs to help the homeless. LA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVE BALLOT MEASURE GIVING IT AUTHORITY TO DELETE SHERIFF-ELECT A homeless woman wearing a veil stands near a tent at Echo Park Lake. (REUTERS/David Swanson) “I will stand up for this council,” O’Farrell said. “Everyone here is compassionate, they care deeply about the people who are the most vulnerable among us. I’m not going to accept this rhetoric that we’re monsters, that we’re murderers or anything like that. It’s all nonsense. I’m just not going to accept this falsehood anymore narrative. We should never accept it at all.” But Bonin disputed that the ordinance is based on a false premise that homeless people refuse to go indoors and that the city has enough space for them. He claimed that 60% of people living on the streets of Los Angeles cannot find shelter. “This is not about whether or not you approve of encampments near schools,” Bonin said. “Nobody wants camps near schools or daycares. Nobody wants camps anywhere.” He said the ordinance was a “distraction from where our focus should be,” such as taking action to end homelessness. UCLA Student BRIANNA KUPFER Murdered in Los Angeles Attack, Had 26 Stabbing Wounds: REPORT A joker walks past a homeless encampment in Los Angeles, California. (AP) The measure was approved after Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said earlier this year that teachers, principals and parents have complained about homeless encampments near schools. “I have seen elementary schools with conditions that none of us as parents would find acceptable for the children. People with mental illness, some of them completely debilitated, yelling profanities into the ears of the children,” Carvalho told the council at the time. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Those who violate the ordinance face a violation or citation. However, a person who “willfully resists, delays or obstructs a city employee from enforcing this section or who willfully refuses to comply after being requested to do so by an authorized city employee” may face increased fines and misdemeanor charges.
