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Council Rejects Placing Trailers for Homeless on Church Land

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Trailers for homeless families will not be allowed on the grounds of a Sepulveda church, the Los Angeles City Council ruled Tuesday.

The Sepulveda Unitarian-Universality Society applied more than a year ago to have two city-owned mobile homes moved onto church property near Haskell Avenue and Plummer Street. The trailers are part of a city program to provide temporary housing for homeless families.

The vote Tuesday was 8 to 5 in support of an appeal by church neighbors seeking to overturn an earlier decision by the Board of Zoning Appeals in favor of the plan. Opposing the appeal were council members Ruth Galanter, Nate Holden, Zev Yaroslavsky, Ernani Bernardi and Joel Wachs.

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Two weeks ago, the council came within one vote of barring the trailers--7 to 4--but eight votes were needed to make a majority.

No public hearing was held Tuesday, but neighbors have said the area is too far from jobs and services the homeless need and have expressed fears about safety.

Church representatives said those fears were ill-founded. They said that two major bus routes run near the site and that under the city-sponsored program, services are provided directly to the trailer residents.

Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area in which the church is located, sided with the neighbors after they agreed to consider allowing permanent housing for the homeless or low-income housing on church property.

Church officials have said they have no money to establish permanent housing, but Bernson asked city staff members to investigate what grant or loan programs might be applicable.

The city homeless trailer program began more than two years ago when Mayor Tom Bradley initiated the purchase of 102 mobile homes from a Utah construction company.

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Since then, only 61 trailers have been placed, most of them on public land such as housing projects.

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