Task Force on Skid Row Nuisances OKd

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to create a special task force to crack down on nuisance businesses in the downtown skid row area, the result of long-running complaints by community members.

The council members, however, postponed a decision on funding for the task force until an analysis is completed by the city Planning Department.

That analysis is expected to be supplied within the next few weeks. Planning officials are also expected to announce a timetable for holding public hearings on 26 alleged nuisance businesses.

Downtown residents and business owners have been pressing for more than a year to have the city crack down on hotels, bars and liquor stores that they say are associated with drug sales, prostitution, public urination, assaults and harassment of passersby. They want the city to hold public hearings--or revocation proceedings--and require more security guards and restrict liquor sales.

Community advocates welcomed the creation of the task force--provided that it is given the authority to pursue complaints and enforce conditions.

“We have some concerns that this is just an other level of bureaucracy that won’t get anything done,” said Zelenne Cardenas, director of an alcohol and drug prevention program based on skid row.

The task force would consist of representatives from several city departments, including building and safety, planning, police, housing and the city attorney’s office.

Currently, only the Planning Department has staff assigned solely to handle nuisance complaints.