SR-701-004 (9)
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City Courieil OffiC. ??'/-- tJt:J9'
Counc11 ,2et1ng of ruary 19, 1985
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HB 1 9 1995
TO'
FRO~1 :
Counci 1 ~1enbers
Mayor Christine Reed
SUBJECT
Ord1nance Regard1ng ern1ght Occupancy of Vehicles
in Resldential Neighborhoods
I am brlnging forward for conslderat1on the matter of making it illegal for
persons to 11ve 1n vehicles in resldentlal neighborhoods. The ord1nance
language proposed by the City Attorney In h1s report for the January 29. 1985,
council meetlng, is acceptable to me.
Attached for your lnformation is a citizen complaint regarding the problem.
Attachment
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January 28, 1935
Christine Reed, Hayor
-City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, GA. 90401
Dear Mrs. Reed
1here is illegally parked a white car, License ~lKG4l59, at 559 Euclid Street,
Euclid/Alta, on the north/east corner. This van has an electric cord hooked
up from the van, across the pavement, through the trees and into a unit (at the
rear of the housE' on 559 Euclid). Both places are rented out to nUT1lerous tenants,
by I believe so~eone ~ho lives in the Valley.
I called the City of Santa Eonica (l158-8355, Building Department) on Thursday,
January 17, about 9:00 a.M.. and they told me it was an infraction and that they
would investipate. I called again on January 23, Wednesday, and they said they
had been too busy to investigate until Honday, January 21, when they said a
letter had be.en sent to the o\o,'11er and they twuld be liable tnree days after that.
I noticed on Thursday, January 24, sweeping day, the van moved out, and was back
abain, within an hour, and hooked up arain. ready for another week. It appears
to be a permanent situation!
I called agnin today, January 28, nt approximately 4:20 p.rr. and was told the
supervisor had left for the day (John lelleson) and would be available at 7:30 a.m.
Tuesday. It ~as suggested that perhaps I should call the police, but I told them
I think it's the City's problem.
I feel this is a most daneerous situation, especially with the heavy rain, an
electric cord over a public pathway, as well as having a very detrimental affect
to the neighborhood. Just imagine if we had everyone living on_the streets this
way, also, with the dog constantly tied up alongside the van, savagely barking
at people who pass on the footpath. I certainly donJt feel we should be paying
Santa Honica taxes for this sort of thing for "transients" to do.
I should appreciate your looking into this matter, and perhaps getting some action.
Sincerely
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~IRS. HArOLD snn-~ONDS
q29 Euclid Street
Santa Nonica, CA. 90402
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February 8, 1985
Mayor Christine ~~erl and
Santa Monica ~ol~~_l~em~ers
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica CA 90401
Dear Mayor Reed and Councilmembers
I'm writing to urge you to exert whatever pressure you can to see
that Robert Myers enforces the ordinance prohibiting people from
sleeping in their cars in residential neighborhoods. I agree with
Myecs that if a person hRS no other shelter than his or her car,
then nobody should prevent him or her from sleeping in it. However,
there are two main reasons I don't think people should be allowed
to camp out in residential neighborhoods;
1. It causes a health problem. Where does one sleeping in his car
go to the bathroom? The gutters, the parkways, maybe even
people's front yards must be the place. Children play in all
of these areas--rolling around on the grass, etc. They risk
picking up the varlOUS diseases that are carried in human
waste. On a walk one day I inadvertantly pushed my baby's
stroller through something that see~ed suspiciously unlike
dog-do.
2. It causes a securLty problem. Not all people sleep in their
cars in the dead of night and then move on in the morning.
For several months we had a woman sleeping in her car across the
street from us every day. While we never had a problem with this
particular person, her being there day Ln and day out was sort of
like a stake-out. She knew the comings and goings of at least
four families, since she dLdn't sleep the entire time she was
there. Whenever I left home during the day, she knew there was
no one in the house. She also knew that two of the other houses
We1e occupied by people who were aw~y fron ho~e all day. Samec~e
inclined toward burglary would do very well Ln this situation.
If there were nowhere else to sleep in one's car besLdes residential
neighborhoods, I wouldn't be asking that this law be enforced. But
there are other places to park one's car--places where chLldren won't
be endangered and people won't feel as though they're being watched.
The idea to set aside a place with rest rooms for homeless people to
sleep in their cars is probably a good one, as long as the site
selected is Ln an industrial area.
Thank you for considering my concerns,
~ Se-& UD:i:
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Jean Sedillos
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