Venice Beach residents sue Los Angeles, saying existing laws regarding transients not enforced
Venice Beach in Los Angeles. gabriel12 / Shutterstock.com
Residents of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice Beach sued the city and county of Los Angeles today, alleging that they have illegally failed to control problems stemming from homelessness.
The Venice Stakeholders Association, a community group, and individual homeowners Arthur Kraus, Jack Hoffman, Gary Harris, David Krintzman and Brad Neal alleged that the city has created a public and private nuisance by permitting transients to camp out on the Venice Beach boardwalk, a park along the boardwalk, and nearby streets. The complaint (PDF) says this has resulted in health and safety concerns for the neighborhood’s residents, its property owners and the millions of tourists who visit each year.
“The lack of enforcement of existing laws makes the hundreds of campers living along Venice Beach feel they can do anything they want with impunity,” said Venice Stakeholders Association president Mark Ryavec in a press release. “The result is that harassment, intimidation, trespass, vandalism, home invasions, and burglaries are common.”
The complaint says transients and others camping out in the area use drugs publicly; urinate and defecate outside; harass and intimidate passers-by; and sometimes commit crimes. Plaintiffs describe specific incidents including being bitten by a transient’s dog; having their water repeatedly shut off from outside; and hiring a private company to remove trash and sewage spread across the streets.
The plaintiffs say they have repeatedly brought these issues to the attention of city and county authorities (who share authority over the area). Nevertheless, the complaint says, authorities have unreasonably failed to take action, even to enforce city ordinances against camping or storing belongings outside.
A spokesman for the office of Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
Ryavec and the Venice Stakeholders Association have been active critics of the way the city handles homelessness in Venice. The VSA has pushed for restrictions on overnight parking; supported a beach curfew from midnight to 5 a.m.; and won restrictions on parking of oversize vehicles on streets whose residents requested it. Ryavec spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week about problems he sees with “young travelers” who camp out in Venice.
The city of Los Angeles may not be able to enforce its ordinances as thoroughly as the plaintiffs would like. In 2006, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the city’s ban on sitting, sleeping or lying on sidewalks; a subsequent settlement required the city to stop enforcing the ban until 1,250 units of supportive housing were built. The units are not yet built.
The city has suffered other defeats on homelessness issues. A 2012 ruling from the 9th Circuit struck down a city law allowing authorities to seize and destroy homeless people’s property when it’s left unattended. And a June decision from the appeals court struck down a ban on living in vehicles as unconstitutionally vague. Feuer’s office said at the time that it would not appeal the decision.
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