Church Won’t Get Trailers for Homeless

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

The Sepulveda Unitarian-Universalist 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.

But the council voted 8 to 5 in support of efforts by church neighbors to block the trailers. That move overruled an earlier vote by the Board of Zoning Appeals that had approved the trailer proposal.

Church neighbors who opposed the plan said their area is too remote from jobs and other services that the homeless might need. They also said they feared for their children’s safety and their own security.

Church representatives said those fears are ill-founded.