LA’s homeless allowed to sleep on sidewalk

LOS ANGELES — Homeless people will be allowed to sleep on sidewalks at night — if they don’t block doors and driveways — under a settlement between the city and civil liberties advocates.

The deal means homeless people can sleep on sidewalks between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. if they are at least 10 feet from entrances to homes and businesses. It comes as downtown Los Angeles undergoes major redevelopment aimed at reducing blight and attracting more people after hours.

The settlement, approved by the City Council in closed session Tuesday, resolves a lawsuit filed in 2003 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of six homeless people. It allows the city to enforce a 1968 law prohibiting sleeping on sidewalks once 1,250 housing units are built for the homeless.

City officials believe it will be at least three to five years before the units are finished.

A federal appeals court ruled in April 2006 that the law was unconstitutional and couldn’t be enforced as long as there was a shortage of beds to accommodate the city’s homeless population.

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