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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin today released a list of 26 properties owned by the city that his team has identified as being suitable to house people experiencing homelessness.
The locations were selected with criteria that included examining their size and current use.
Galperin found that the city uses only a small portion of its land to address the homelessness crisis, and the 26 properties he identified would provide an additional 1.7 million square feet of space for interim housing.
The locations could support tiny home villages, safe parking and safe camping areas as well as support facilities such as rest rooms, showers and laundry centers, Galperin said.
``Homelessness is an existential crisis for Los Angeles, and things have only gotten worse during the pandemic,'' Galperin said. ``With tens of thousands of people sleeping on the streets nightly, the city must do more to alleviate homelessness by using the properties it owns.''
Vacant land identified by Galperin includes:
-- 394,000 square feet at 10901 S. Clovis Ave. in the Green Meadows area of South L.A.;
-- 121,000 square feet at 5975 S. Western Ave in the Chesterfield Square area of South L.A.; and
-- 96,000 square feet at 12568 N. San Fernando Rd in Sylmar.
Galperin also identified a 25,000 square foot parking lot, controlled by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, at 2010 S. Pisani Place in Venice.
The region's most recent ``homeless count'' took place in 2020 and found that the city had 41,290 people experiencing homelessness. The 2021 count was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2022 count will take place between Jan. 25-27, when volunteers will look all over the county for people living who are living on the streets.
``The status quo is unacceptable. My office took a fresh look at thousands of city properties and identified 26 that can be used right away for interim solutions,'' Galperin said. ``These properties are big enough, unused or vacant, and could give shelter and services to thousands of unhoused Angelenos.''
People can look at a map of the properties at lacontroller.org/audits- and-reports/city-owned-properties.