LA advances rules for homeless camps in session disrupted by protesters

LOS ANGELES — Homeless encampments that have proliferated in nearly every neighborhood of Los Angeles will no longer be allowed within 500 feet of schools and day care centers under a sweeping ban approved at a City Council meeting disrupted by protesters who said the law criminalizes homelessness.

The council Tuesday voted 11-3 to broadly expand a prohibition on sitting, sleeping or camping that previously applied only to schools and day cares specified by the council.

The meeting was recessed before the vote when dozens of demonstrators shouted their opposition and police officers cleared the council chamber. One person was arrested, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Annie Hernandez.

Protesters also gathered outside City Hall, chanting “Abolish 41.18,” a reference to the law prohibiting encampments on freeway overpasses, around railroad tracks, near loading docks and at libraries and other locations.

The final vote, which applies to the city’s public and private schools, came after two previous votes, including one last week that was also interrupted by a raucous protest. The measure must be signed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti before it takes effect.

Los Angeles is among many cities struggling to deal with a surge in homelessness and large encampments scattered along sidewalks that have sparked public outcry.

Supporters of the blanket ban said homeless camps pose health and safety threats to schoolchildren, especially because of the disruptive presence of people with drug addictions or mental illness.

“This is something to protect kids in our city,” Council member Paul Koretz said before voting for the measure. He said “asking folks in an encampment to move a couple hundred feet” should be be an easy decision if it means children have a safer walk to and from school.

About 750 public school sites are within Los Angeles and nearly 1,000 commercial day care businesses are registered with the city. The new public school year starts Monday.