The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved a resolution introduced by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez to remove 12 “anti-camping zones” in the Hollywood area — a move that appears to be the first time the city has withdrawn such a designation under a policy barring unhoused residents from sleeping or camping in sensitive locations.
In a 10-3 vote, the council supported Soto-Martinez’s resolution, which calls for areas previously designated as anti-camping zones under his predecessor, Mitch O’Farrell, to be rescinded. Council members Traci Park, Monica Rodriguez and Imelda Padilla opposed the matter, with Curren Price and John Lee absent during the vote.
Los Angeles has long had anti-loitering laws. In 2021, the City Council amended Section 41.18 to ban encampments within 500 feet of sensitive locations such as public schools and libraries. The City Council later expanded what constitutes these zones to include daycare centers, parks, underpasses, areas near the Los Angeles River and other places.
The city has defended its anti-camping law, citing concerns over public safety.
Housing and homeless advocates have challenged the city’s implementation of the law. Critics argue enforcement of the law leads to the forcible removal of unhoused people, moves them from place to place and disconnects them from critical medical care, outreach and support.
Soto-Martinez described Wednesday’s vote as an important moment for him and his office, noting that he has never heard of a discretionary 41.18 zone being removed. The councilman’s action fulfilled a campaign commitment dating back to 2021, though homeless advocates have criticized him for taking four years to do it.
The councilman said he surveyed some 2,000 constituents who lived in proximity to the zones and found that most either did not support them or did not have an opinion on the subject.
Soto-Martinez said his 13th Council District has experienced a 40% decrease in homelessness since he took office, similar to other areas in the city.
The councilman touted his approach to addressing homelessness, noting that he has focused on promoting the construction of interim housing and shelters and expanding services rather than enforcement or criminalization.
“So it isn’t that people don’t want housing — they absolutely want housing,” Soto-Martinez said. “But displacing our neighbors from block-to-block, or in many cases district-to-district, doesn’t help them find housing. In fact, in most cases it makes it harder.”
He also cited a city analysis that found people who were present before enforcement returned to 81% of encampments flagged for removal under 41.18, and that almost all of the encampments returned after they were removed.
“We have always believed that these zones are counterproductive to the work we are doing, and now we have the data, and have done the outreach necessary to back that up. Just as we did when we took down the fence around Echo Park, we believe our measured and community focused approach will yield long-term positive results for our district, and enable us to keep doing what is already working in CD13,” according to a statement from Soto-Martinez’s office.
Park defended the anti-camping law, adding that managing the city’s streets, sidewalks and public spaces is a fundamental obligation.
“I personally think that 41.18 should be mandated around sensitive sites — all of them,” Park said, noting she introduced legislation to enhance the policy to cover critical infrastructure, environmentally sensitive areas and high-severity fire zones, but that proposal has languished in the committee process.
Padilla said she could not support Soto-Martinez’s action, pointing to the council’s progressive bloc — consisting of Soto-Martinez, Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado — which often opposes resolutions introduced by colleagues to expand anti-camping zone designations.
Rodriguez agreed with Park and Padilla, arguing that the issue is about protecting public spaces for children and families after the city has used time and resources to clear encampments.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said he does not enforce the anti-camping law in his 8th Council District, which encompasses South Los Angeles neighborhoods.
“Sending the police to give people tickets in my community almost always makes the thing worse, whether it’s drugs or speeding, it has never worked,” Harris-Dawson said.
Harris-Dawson noted that the anti-camping law has helped in some ways, pointing to major changes at Venice Beach and Echo Park in recent years after both locations had large, sprawling encampments.
“None of us have the answer for everybody, but all of us together can come up with the answers for our neighborhoods,” Harris-Dawson said. “I want the city I grew up in when you didn’t need 41.18. It wasn’t a debate about whether or not someone could block the sidewalk by sleeping there. That’s the city I want to get back to.”