By Justin Martinez
As part of his far-reaching plan to combat homelessness in Los Angeles, CD 14 Councilmember Kevin de León recently filed a motion that could bring small, prefabricated housing units to two locations in Northeast L.A. One location, in Eagle Rock, is the city-owned parking lot at 7541 N. Figueroa Street next to the on/off ramps of the 134 Freeway.
Another location, in Highland Park, is an unused portion of Arroyo Drive near S. Avenue 64 and the 110 Freeway.
The housing units, known as pallet shelters, would be similar to the 40 unit pallet housing community recently opened in North Hollywood. The shelters are intended as “bridge” housing for people as they transition to permanent housing.
Currently, the N. Figueroa lot is a homeless encampment with some 13 tents. The Arroyo Drive location is an inaccessbile section of the roadway next to the 110 Freeway.
De León’s motion for pallet housing was one topic in a wide ranging discussion on homelessness during a Zoom meeting Feb. 11 sponsored by the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council.
De León attended the meeting along with Sarah Flaherty, his field deputy for Eagle Rock. De León and Flaherty discussed De León’s anti-homelessness plan, entitled “A Way Home,” which is a series of motions to provide 25,000 new housing units for unhoused Angelenos by 2025. The proposals include permanent and temporary housing programs.
“The problem is incredibly acute here,” De León said in the meeting. He was referring to L.A. in general and CD 14 in particular, which includes downtown Los Angeles, with its substantial unhoused community, as well as eastside neighborhoods. De León drove home the urgency with figures, noting at one point that the unhoused population of CD 14 — 7,617 residents at last count — is larger than the unhoused populations in some cities, including Chicago, Houston and Phoenix.
The push for pallet shelters is one response to the urgency: “Because they’re prefabricated, we’re able to drop them in extremely quickly, they’re very economical,” Flaherty said. “I think leaning on that to rapidly increase our housing stock is a great route to pursue.”
Pallet shelters would also represent an increase in what Flaherty called the “woefully inadequate” resources available to help the unhoused in Northeast L.A. Flaherty noted, for example, that only 30 shelter beds are available at the winter shelter in Glassell Park to serve the area’s nearly 400 unhoused residents.
In the weeks since De León introduced “A Way Home” on Jan. 12, two of the motions in the initiative have been approved by the city council. The Streamlined Permitting Motion and Standard Plans Motion, which passed on Feb. 9, reduce the time and cost of constructing new affordable housing by simplifying and expediting permits and approvals required by the city.
The motion calling for pallet housing is currently in the city council’s homelessness committee.
Other motions in the “A Way Home” initiative are at different stages in the process, according to Flaherty, with some awaiting a full vote by the city council, some pending committee approval and some yet to be placed on the agenda for discussion.
Those motions seek to increase the use of hotels, motels, publicly owned land, and abandoned and underused commercial real estate to shelter unhoused residents. The motions also call for exploring how to use money from the Prop. HHH anti-homelessness bond for more effective remedies than those that have been put forward thus far.
De León and Flaherty emphasized the importance of community action to achieve the goals set out in ‘A Way Home.’ Especially helpful, they said, are letters of support for the initiative to CD 14 and to City Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, the chair of the Homeless and Poverty committee.
De León ended the meeting inviting the community to share their ideas for ending homelessness with him and Flaherty. “It’s all hands on deck,” he said, adding that ideas from the local level would be “invaluable.”
You can contact CD 14 at (323)-254-5295 or at councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org.
You can contact Mark Ridley-Thomas, chair of the Homelessness and Poverty committee, at (213)-473-7010 or at councilmember.ridley-thomas@lacity.org
Correction: Text and photo caption on the proposed Highland Park location was changed to state that the housing would be located on a currently inaccessible part of Arroyo Dr. across a vacant lot and adjacent to the 110 Freeway. The original text and caption incorrectly indicated that the housing would be located on the vacant lot shown in the photo.
Justin Martinez, an Eagle Rock native and a junior at Occidental College, is a participant in the NELA Neighborhood Reporting Partnership, a collaboration between the Boulevard Sentinel and The Occidental campus newspaper.
Does anyone know whether the Figueroa St. parking lot would consist exclusively of pallet shelters, or would it be a combination of the tents that are there now and pallet shelters? I think the North Hollywood location is exclusively the latter, but am not sure.
You can’t force people to go into the pallet shelters, so this is going to just attract more homeless, crime, and issues to the Eagle Rock area. Look at Brentwood, where they provide services and approved space for the homeless, but right on the other side of that are tons of homeless who don’t want to follow the rules…litter the area and cause problems. This is an idealistic plan and yes it will be good for some people, but it’s going to cause more problems in the long run in this area.
Hi,
I completely agree. This will bring an increase in crime activity to the area. Most people don’t know there are homes on the block of 7600 N. Figueroa St. There is also a Daycare on this street. The park is across the street and schools are close by. Judge Carters ruling is being completely ignored. Not to mention the Fig Lot is located in the The Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ ). US homeowners have to pay an increased amount for fire insurance because we live in this area. This is a terrible location for the communities.
I have many years of experience working as both a psychotherapist and leader of case managers working with the mentally-ill homeless through Pacific Clinics in Pasadena. I can attest to the fact that with some (trained) oversight and case management partnering with the the homeless, the issues of crime, trash and other issues can be successfully addressed. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE and I commend you for having the courage to confront this issue! The properties seem to be well located.
I didn’t see anything in this article or in Councilmember De Leon’s motion that addressed trained oversight. Also, I haven’t seen an answer to the question of whether the people living in tents at the Figueroa parking lot will remain there when the pallet structures are installed or be relocated, or whether any services would be provided there or rules (e.g. drugs, alcohol) will be imposed uniformly on both populations.
Hi John,
City Council staff has told us that this will not be a “dry” area. They will not enforce drug testing, and there will be minimal rules. We were told that they can get high all they want as long as they do it in their “tiny homes”. Which means we will go from a handful of homeless that walk our street, drugged out, in-front of our homes to having over 50 homeless living 2 blocks from our residential street.
Thank you, Flor, that is absolutely infuriating.
Flor, do you happen to know if the residents of Eagle Vista Drive across from the park, or those on Lunsford Drive have been informed of these plans?
Well located ? There are 3 elementary school within 2 or less from this encampment. Hills on all three sides. This is the worst possible location to ship in abounds amounts homeless. Clearly you do t live in Eagle Rock
Then let them move in your backyard or your neighborhood!! You as a clinician should know when they are to far gone they don’t help themselves and they don’t want help! I lived in a household with drug abuse, alcoholism and a schizophrenic person. Don’t say how they can change, not everyone is a beautiful mind and that’s one in how many. The humane thing to do is institutionalized them. It is inhumane to leave them on the streets where they are a danger to themselves, citizens and to the elements of the weather. And they do commit a lot of crime… they kill and fight each other. Where are like the security to protect those non violent people?????
Hi Yvette and Michelle, Please submit your public comment via this link- click on the “new” red icon- top right corner. Residents need to speak up of why we oppose this motion for “tiny houses” at 7541 N. Figueroa Street (Figueroa Parking Lot). Please spread the word.
https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=19-0774-S1