Please Tell the Venice Neighborhood Council to Oppose Temporary Homeless Housing on the MTA Lot

Later this month it is expected that the proposal to place temporary housing for 100 street dwellers on the former MTA bus lot on Main Street will come before the Venice Neighborhood Council.  Now is the time to voice your opposition to this misguided concept, which will only exacerbate Venice's homeless burden.

Please send the following message to <Board@VeniceNC.org> and a copy to Councilman Bonin's deputy:  <taylor.bazley@lacity.org>

Members of the VNC Board:

I oppose the use of the former MTA lot for homeless housing.  The lot is surrounded by residences and is too close to four schools on and around Westminster Elementary School.  This use will inevitably draw more transients to this neighborhood and to the schools.

There are no assurances that the new facility will actually reduce the homeless population in Venice, nor any guarantee that new encampments will not just spring up all around the MTA lot.  

The City's DWP facility in West Los Angeles (shown below), north of Olympic Blvd. and east of Centinela Avenue, is under-utilized and the south end of the parking lot (upper center of the photo bordered in light green) is a far better location for a temporary shelter.  It is surrounded by industrial uses on three sides and on the north the rest of the parking lot could provide a 200 hundred foot buffer between the temporary housing and the residences on Nebraska.

The concept of Bridge Home housing is untested and residents should not be forced to be guinea pigs.  Please urge the City to find a location, like the DWP parking lot above, that is set back from residences.

Thank you for considering my views on this important issue.