W. Hollywood May Move Park Dwellers Indoors

The 75 to 100 homeless people who live in West Hollywood’s two parks may be trading their nights under the stars for cots, blankets and hot coffee thanks to a new city plan to close the parks at midnight and open a temporary shelter.

Responding to complaints about increased crime and unsanitary conditions, the West Hollywood City Council on Monday voted to close West Hollywood and Plummer parks from midnight until 6 a.m. to keep people from sleeping there overnight. If approved on a second required vote, the park closures would begin in May.

The council also approved funds for a temporary shelter and increased the number of hotel vouchers the city provides to homeless people each night from six to 21.

The action was supported by homeless people who attended the meeting.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” said Sam Weinstein, a homeless man who addressed the council Monday night. “The only thing that is missing is some sort of comprehensive program” to aid homeless people.

City staff have suggested a vacant warehouse on La Brea Avenue as a possible site for the temporary shelter, which would provide cots and blankets, showers, restrooms, hot drinks and referral services, said Jodi Curlee, administrator of the Department of Social Services.

Operating the 30- to 50-person shelter for six months would cost about $112,000, not including renovation expenses, Curlee said.

The 15 additional hotel vouchers, to be given each night to homeless people with children and those with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS-related complex, will cost another $60,000, she said. Each voucher will be for one room.

Stabbings Reported

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had recommended closing the parks from midnight to 6 a.m. to combat an increase in violent crime among the homeless people who sleep there, said Capt. Mark Squiers, adding that there were six stabbings in the park during December and January. He said serious crime in the park has increased 46% since mid-1987.

Several people who use or live near the parks complained Monday night of increased crime in the area and of homeless people urinating and defecating on park grounds and private lawns.

“There are 50 to 100 homeless individuals in (Plummer) Park who do not abide by any rules or regulations. They are allowed to do as they please,” said Dr. Theresa Karam, a psychologist who plays tennis in the park.

“What we want is safety returned to Plummer Park,” she told the council.

But the handful of homeless people who testified asked the council to provide them with a means of escaping their predicament and to crack down on troublemakers.

“We need more stringent conditions,” said Carl Lowry Sr., a homeless man who lives in Plummer Park. “Those caught drunk, doped up, should be thrown in jail.”

The council, which had twice delayed considering the matter since Squiers first proposed it in December, concurred with the Sheriff’s Department Monday night and approved the ordinance closing the parks overnight.

The parks are closed from 3 to 5 a.m., but the Sheriff’s Department has not made a practice of evicting homeless people from the park.

Squiers said rousting park residents from their sleep at 3 a.m. to wander about for a couple of hours is unfair to both the deputies and the homeless people.

The ordinance closing the parks overnight is scheduled for a second reading on March 28. If approved then, it would go into effect starting May 1. The staff report on negotiations for the shelter site is also due on the 28th.