L.A. Asked to Use Saugus Site to Shelter Homeless

An activist for the homeless urged the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday to establish a permanent campground for the homeless on 520 acres of city-owned land in Saugus, but city officials said the proposal was impractical.

Adam Bennion, president of the Los Angeles Union for the Homeless, made the proposal during a session set aside for public comments on any subject.

Council members did not respond to the proposal during the meeting. But several officials said in interviews afterward that they do not believe the city can--or should--move the homeless to Saugus.

County OK Doubted

“It’s not a solution, and it’s not realistic,” Councilman Hal Bernson said.

Bernson expressed doubt that the city could win approval of the plan by the county Board of Supervisors. Although the city owns the land, the county controls the zoning. That could change on Nov. 3 if voters approve creation of the city of Santa Clarita. But Bernson said he also doubts that Santa Clarita, if created, would agree to the proposal.

Bernson also questioned whether the city should provide its land to care for the homeless, which he says is legally a county responsibility.

Lack of Services

Others questioning the feasibility of the proposal cited the unavailability of social services, such as job training and medical care, that would be needed by the homeless if they were placed in Saugus.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi questioned whether homeless people would go to Saugus. “The work is here,” he said, referring to the central city. “This is apparently where they want to be.”

The proposal comes at a time when the city is considering three profit-making ideas involving the Saugus property, formerly used as an alcohol rehabilitation center.

One of the proposals calls for selling the land, without the usual competitive bidding, for $10 million to a community group that promises to pump profits back into programs for the homeless. The other proposals call for leasing the property to hundreds of mobile-home residents displaced by development throughout the city or selling the land to the highest bidder at public auction.

The council is scheduled to make a decision on the Saugus property Oct. 13, but Bernardi said Tuesday he will seek to delay action until after the Nov. 3 cityhood vote.

Dan McGowan, an analyst in the city administrative office, said his office studied using the Saugus land for housing the homeless but rejected the idea.

“If you have people who need mental services, what’s the delivery system?” McGowan asked. “Are we just going to warehouse them out there, and let them find their way by bus to the nearest hospital?

“Plus, it’s our property, and we need the money” from the sale, McGowan said. “We have not really got money to engage in something that is a county responsibility.”

The city is scrambling to find shelter for the homeless because of Friday’s scheduled closing of its urban campground on the edge of downtown. The campground, providing shelter for up to 2,600 people since opening in June, is needed by the Southern California Rapid Transit District for construction of a portion of the Metro Rail subway.