Residents of Koreatown in Los Angeles have voiced out their objection against a planned temporary homeless shelter on a city-owned parking lot by organizing a protest on Sunday.
According to the protesters, the chosen spot at the heart of Koreatown (in 682 S. Vermont Ave) was in close proximity to local schools. They were also concerned that the temporary facility could mean less business for companies in the area, ABC reports.
Koreatown residents protest homeless shelter plan, saying it’s too close to schools, businesses https://t.co/ICUTwjmB2e pic.twitter.com/wfdf972aWH
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 7, 2018
As it is taking up a parking lot, the project is expected to worsen the parking space problem for the nightlife businesses in Koreatown.
1/3 LA leadership is about to dump a bunch of homeless shelters all over koreatown. Once again, Asian communities are being bullied and treated as pushovers, while Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach, etc (i.e. white communities) are untouched. https://t.co/7NYcyL5nD3 pic.twitter.com/fhsZiiatXQ
— Lucas Ou-Yang — 欧阳象 (@LucasOuYang) May 7, 2018
The Koreatown facility, which was announced by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday after declaring an emergency shelter crisis, is reportedly part of his $20 million campaign to open new shelters across the city, according to the LA Times.
The residents lamented that while they recognize that crisis, they were left out of the city’s planning process.
They have also created an online petition at Change.org to stop the plan, generating over 5,700 signatures since it was posted on Friday.
Other shelters being planned include a site next to the YMCA in Hollywood and another by the Homeboy Diner outside Chinatown.
there is a protest in koreatown today against the city’s plan to build an emergency homeless shelter there…and i wanna give props to my friend johnny lee for being the one person to counter-protest against it pic.twitter.com/d9s8ySGaj4
— spicy boy (@shawnwasabi) May 6, 2018
Designed to relocate up to 1,500 homeless people off the streets in the next six months, the project will start with the opening of the pilot shelter near Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles in mid-July.
Feature image via Change.org / “Stop the homeless shelter petition”