Cleaning house! Hollywood Hills’ huge homeless encampment near Universal Studios is emptied after mayor vowed to move more than 50 RVs

The city of Los Angeles has cleared more than 50 RVs from a massive homeless encampment near the Hollywood Hills in an attempt to bring the crisis under control.

Crews used heavy equipment to remove cars from the longtime eyesore at Barham Boulevard and Forest Lawn Drive, near Universal and Warner Bros. studios.

The takedown operation was part of Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe Program which is designed to get homeless people back into shelters and off the streets.

“We must work to tackle homelessness in all its forms, including living on the streets in cars and vans. Today we took a step toward that goal with our first Operation Inside Safe, aimed at helping people get inside from RV camps,” the mayor said.

Earlier this week, flyers were posted throughout the area informing residents that the cleanup was underway and where they would be able to pick up their property if it was cleared by authorities.

On Dec. 6, crews removed more than 50 RVs from a longtime encampment near the intersection of Barham Boulevard and Forest Lawn Drive.

A street cleaned up (left) and debris left behind (right) after a cleanup at a popular RV camp in the Hollywood Hills on December 6.

Flyers were posted informing Forest Lawn Drive RV residents that the city was clearing the streets.

“RVs pose a particular challenge to addressing encampments, which makes them especially difficult to address on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood level, which is the current system we have for addressing homelessness in Los Angeles,” the councilwoman said Nitya Raman.

“While our office has successfully permitted many campgrounds throughout the county, the need to provide places where we can store RVs before they can be sold or safely disposed of is beyond the capabilities of every municipality.”

Los Angeles County Executive Katherine Barger spoke about this. CBS News many vans are rented by “vanlords” for $400 to $500 a month.

“We have a legal obligation to store them and exercise due diligence on the owner. If someone comes to demand it, we will work with them,” Barger said.

“But those who do not, those who are uninhabitable, will be destroyed.”

Barger said: “Make no mistake. Today is the culmination of a lot of work done by the outreach teams. But at the same time, we recognize the quality of life issue for residents living above and cyclists passing by.”

Residents living near these RV parks have complained about the health and safety conditions they create in their neighborhoods.

“We see fights, we see drug deals, we see prostitution around RVs,” said Adam Johansson, who lives near several RV parks in the western San Fernando Valley. NBC Los Angeles.

“A dozen times or more I saw them open the door and physically throw human waste into the ditch.”

In Sylmar, California, a “vanlord” named Cruz Godoy, who rents vans to private parties on her property, was ordered to remove 20 vans crammed around her Los Angeles home after residents complained of an unbearable fecal odor. and urine.

Forest Lawn Drive, November 5. Los Angeles County Supervisor Katherine Barger said RV parks create problems for cyclists.

Piles of trash at an RV park on Forest Lawn Drive on November 7. Residents of nearby areas complained about the dangers posed by the parking lots.

Lines of RVs outside Warner Bros. Studios on November 5. The city’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget allocates nearly $1.3 billion to address homelessness.

“The city is now trying to replicate this week’s success with RV camps in South Los Angeles, the Westside and the San Fernando Valley,” Bass told NBC Los Angeles.

2023 Homeless Count in Greater Los Angeles On any given night, approximately 75,518 people experience homelessness in Los Angeles County, and approximately 46,260 people experience homelessness in the City of Los Angeles.

The city’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget allocates nearly $1.3 billion to address the homelessness crisis.

Bass said more than 21,000 people have been relocated here since December 2022 because of her strategy to address homelessness.

The Forest Lawn Drive cleanup was the 33rd cleanup of Inside Safe camps in Los Angeles.