Officials OK plan for homeless facility
The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission has approved the Union Rescue Mission’s plan to open a 71-acre facility for homeless women, children and seniors outside Sylmar.
With a 4-0 vote Wednesday to grant the conditional-use permit, the commission ended a long-running dispute over the facility, known as Hope Gardens, intended as a way to move at-risk people away from skid row.
Rescue mission officials initially had expected the project to get an easy approval because the facility would be far from homes in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.
But residents of Kagel Canyon -- about a mile from the facility -- expressed concerns about the structure of the program. They also said the facility would increase traffic and could heighten fire risks.
Hope Gardens was viewed as a litmus test for other efforts across the county to decentralize homeless services and spread the problems of skid row to outlying areas. The Union Rescue Mission bought the property, an abandoned retirement community, in late 2005 for $7.5 million, with plans to offer apartments and support services.
“Words aren’t even sufficient to describe what happened,” said Andy Bales, president of Union Rescue Mission. Bales said he was grateful for the diligence of the planning commissioners, their staff and the office of Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area.
At one point in the fight to open Hope Gardens, Bales accused Antonovich’s office of trying to sabotage the project and costing the mission more than $1 million in legal costs and interest payments on the facility.
Opponents now have two weeks to appeal the commission’s decision to the county Board of Supervisors. Calls to representatives of Kagel Canyon homeowners groups for comment were not returned.
Bales said he expected residents to begin moving into the facility in late June -- in time for children to start classes at nearby Fenton Charter School in Lake View Terrace.
If the decision is appealed, he said, “I hope and pray for a quick response by the Board of Supervisors.”
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