At the suggestion of a VSA supporter I walked the Boardwalk from Windward to Marine this morning and was surprised to see that some of the persistent "stuff" had been removed. I also spoke with one of the Watershed Protection team that was doing the cleanup today and found that they were aggressively removing all but the 60 gallon limit of stuff that each person is allowed to have with them. I even saw the LAPD arrest a Boardwalk dweller who interfered with the Watershed team's removal of excess stuff, some of which was destined for storage for 90 days.
As I discussed the current protocols it became clear that the Watershed Protection team is rigorously enforcing LAMC 56.11 but is not enforcing the parallel parks ordinance LAMC 63.44:
(1) No Person shall Store Personal Property in any Park
(2) All Stored Personal Property remaining in any Park after closing may be removed by the City.
It also bans: any item that is too large to fit in one of the City's 60 gallon trash containers with the lid closed, including, but not limited to, a mattress, couch, chair or other furniture or appliance.
The weak link in getting the Boardwalk and grass areas finally cleaned up is the Recreation and Parks Department. The City has left enforcement of 63.44 to Rec. and Parks and they are not enforcing either the ban on items larger than the limit during the day or the right of the department to remove everything from the Boardwalk, grass and sand areas after park closure at 10 PM.
So, some progress has been made but there is a ways to go before Venice Boardwalk looks as clean as Santa Monica's.
The Venice Stakeholders Association is dedicated to civic improvement. The VSA supports slow growth, protection of the limits of the Venice Local Coastal Specific Plan, neighborhood safety, better traffic circulation, increased parking for residents, neighborhood beautification projects, historic preservation and protection of coastal waters.
