L.A. City Council moves to clear Tujunga Wash homeless camps

Citing an imminent public safety threat, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to immediately begin posting no-trespassing signs in the Tujunga Wash to help clear out the area of homeless encampments.

During a recent tour of the wash, Councilman Felipe Fuentes said he counted five 5-gallon jugs of gasoline and three generators among the encampments. Fuentes introduced an emergency measure, which received no advance public notice, asking for the signs and that the council also consider banning homeless encampments.

Draft language instituting a ban will be prepared by the city attorney’s office and will be subject to public hearings and another council vote. But the no-trespassing signs could be posted quickly, followed by police removal of violators.

“We have determined that we have to clear that wash ASAP,’’ Fuentes told the council.

Wildfires are a concern as the fall fire season gets underway, Fuentes spokeswoman Connie Llanos said. Flooding is also a threat because much of the Angeles National Forest watershed drains into the wash, she said.

Over the weekend, Fuentes and his staff teamed with social service agencies to provide “multiple” beds for homeless seeking help in and near the wash, he said. The next step is to remove the safety threat posed by the homeless encampments, he said.

The council voted unanimously to direct the General Services Department to replace no-trespassing signs that have been torn down.

Fuentes -- who represents portions of the northwestern San Fernando Valley, including Sunland-Tujunga -- asked for the action on an emergency basis.

Llanos said Tuesday’s action was a “preliminary step” and will be followed by public hearings and another council vote on the broader no-camping ban.

The wash and the adjacent Hansen Dam Recreation Center have drawn an influx of transients and an increase in encampments in recent years, according to police and local neighborhood activists.

Along with increasing litter and illicit drug sales, the Los Angeles Police Department last year reported instances of sex acts along the tree-shrouded trails that crisscross the wash. Weekend “party patrols” at the Hansen Dam Recreation Center were enacted last year to cut down on problems.

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catherine.saillant@latimes.com