NIMBYs Trying To Stop A Hollywood Homeless Housing Project

The L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency purchased a property in Hollywood to provide 40-60 apartment units for people who are homeless. I reported on this earlier.

Here is the latest discussion, via NBC Channel 4 News:

MACK (Reporter): Of the 90,000 homeless people in LA County, many idle away on the streets of Hollywood, attracted to 20 social service centers, like the "Teen Canteen" on Gower and the "Free Clinic" on Hollywood Boulevard. The homeless here have easy access to free food and medical testing. Now the LA Community Redevelopment Agency wants to provide at least 50 of them with apartments.

HELMI HISSERICH, LA COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY: It's an apartment building that's a little different than most apartment buildings because it has services for homeless people.

MACK: The plan is to take this parking lot just north of the intersection of Hollywood blvd and Gower Street and turn it into a 40- to 60-unit apartment building with social service centers on the ground floor for the residents. But some of those services will also be available to the general homeless public.

SARAH PHELPS, LA VOICE/PROJECT BACKER: It really will be ... a little more program space for the teen canteen, which is already on the site, which is a drop in center for homeless youth.

MACK: And therein lies the rub, according to Fran Richenbach, the founder of the Hollywood-Gower neighborhood association.

FRAN REICHENBACH, HOLLYWOODD-GOWER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: What they are proposing is 5,000 square feet of social services on the main floor, not just for the residents (but) for the general public. And that is a recipe for disaster.

MACK: Reichenbach is convinced that if the apartment building is built, more homeless people will flock to Hollywood and more will be "dumped" here, as they are now in downtown LA's skid row. The concern is that an existing problem will grow much worse.

REICHENBACH: It's a public safety issue. It is a health issue.

MACK: Opponents of the homeless project are also concerned about its potential impact on a large revitalization project that is going on nearby in Hollywood. More than a billion dollars is being spent on high end hotels, condominiums and shopping districts.

REICHENBACH: They all go out there and they victimize tourists; they steal things from shops.”

MACK: But project backers argue it is a step in the right direction to get at least some chronically homeless off the streets.

HISSERICH: It's much better having someone who is schizo living in housing with a case manager. They're able to help them know when to take their medications rather than having that person live under a bridge.