A Petition about Transient RV's

April 28, 2008

Dear Sirs:

We are writing to express in the strongest terms our opposition to the proposed ordinance currently under consideration by the Venice Neighborhood Council's RV Task Force which would allow any person (or persons) to sleep over-night in recreational vehicles parked anywhere in the City of Los Angeles, on public or private property, with the permission of the owner.

This ordinance is an invitation to destruction of neighborhood zoning and density limits in the City of Los Angeles and will certainly produce "gasoline alleys" in various parts of Los Angeles if passed.

While we are concerned about the increasing incidence of homelessness and current economic conditions that cause some people to opt to use their vehicles as residences, encouraging the practice is self-defeating for these individuals and our communities. We have experienced in Venice all the problems that come from some of the individuals who camp in their vehicles: crimes such as muggings, theft and burglary, drug sales, late night noise and drunkenness, trash, and feces and bottles of urine on our front lawns (not to mention the loss of sorely needed street parking). We do not want to encourage this behavior by passage of this ordinance.

Further, we object to the unrepresentative nature of the RV Task Force, which is not drawn from a cross section of our community, but represents largely service providers and the homeless. The meetings of the Task Force have intentionally not been broadcast to the Venice stakeholders, and the Task Force has operated outside of the public notice requirements of the Brown Act.

As the cities of Santa Barbara and Ontario have seen, special areas for the homeless’ vehicles and campers quickly exceed their capacity and create unsanitary and unsafe environments. If additional controlled environments are needed to accommodate RVs (and/or vehicles) in the City, such as the County facility at Dockweiler Beach, then we would support the development of such additional facilities in similarly isolated locations like Dockweiler, and in other locations at a distance from residential neighborhoods.

Under no circumstances do we support the use of public parking lots or the parking lots of religious institutions, within 1000 feet of residential or commercially zoned property, for the parking of vehicles permitted for over-night occupancy.

Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
mayor@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 978-0600
Fax at (213) 978-0655

Councilman Bill Rosendahl
Los Angeles City Council
200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Councilman.Rosendahl@lacity.org
(310) 575-8461

Michael Newhouse
President, Venice Neighborhood Council
Riley & Associates CA/NV
1875 Century Park East, Suite 1000, Los Angeles, CA 90067
MIKE@MIKEANDRUTHIE.COM
(310) 399-5515