Ballona Freshwater Marsh | Safety Update #4 | LA Times

[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

But wait! There’s more! Unfortunately it doesn’t involve a super-spud-slicer. The three prior updates are: 7 Apr 2021, 11 Feb 2021 and 29 Jan 2021. Changes are afoot. Maybe.

If you recall from yesterday’s posting, there are hundreds [well…a lot, anyway] of RV’s in varying states of repair parked near the Ballona Freshwater Marsh, and it’s become unsafe and/or impossible to look at birds there, not to mention the accumulated trash and worse.

Due to the pandemic, people out-of-work, jobs and housing lost, the city stopped towing RV’s and/or telling their occupants to move. RV’s are all over town, not just in a few well-known areas of congregation. Here’s a guesstimate: In 90% of L.A. City you won’t have to drive more than ten minutes (maybe only five!) to find at least one such parked & occupied RV.

Los Angeles lifts moratorium on towing RVs, pledges to move problem campers
L.A. Times | Rachel Uranga & Ruben Vives | 7 Apr 2020 | 5 min read
From the article:

Hundreds of people living in recreational vehicles parked on Los Angeles streets have largely avoided towing thanks to a pandemic-era moratorium on impounding oversized vehicles used as homes.

But on Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to lift the moratorium amid growing complaints from residents who say some RV dwellers dump human waste on streets, use drugs and accumulate trash.

City officials say they will begin to enforce the regulation next month, prioritizing RVs and campers that are unregistered, inoperable or heavily damaged, as well as ones that interfere with construction, pose a safety hazard by blocking driveways or traffic or have had multiple responses from the Department of Sanitation. Officials will also resume towing cars that violate posted parking restrictions.

We’ll close with a not-uncommon denizen of the Ballona Freshwater Marsh, usually seen cruising low over the adjacent field.