L.A. parking program targets oversized vehicles

The Gulf War veteran said he picked the spot largely because it was close to the leafy Veterans Affairs campus, where he receives medical treatment.

But Dutchover, 38, will probably relocate in a few weeks, once parking enforcement officers kick off a new program requiring RVs in the southern part of Brentwood to obtain permits before parking overnight.

Although the rules are aimed at eliminating blight, Dutchover predicted that they also would rid the neighborhood of people who lack homes of their own.

"I guess I kind of feel targeted," said Dutchover, standing outside his 1983 Country Camper. "I'm trying to live in America the best I can, the way I can afford it, and this is not making it easier for me."

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to create two RV restriction districts, one in Brentwood and another in south San Pedro, as part of a 30-day pilot program to crack down on street parking by oversized vehicles. If the pilot is successful, the program will be expanded to other neighborhoods where residents are requesting tighter parking restrictions, transportation officials say.

Under the program, overnight RV permits will cost $10 per night, with large vehicles allowed to stay in one spot for three consecutive nights. But permits won't be given to the owners of RVs who also are living in them, said Alan Willis, principal transportation engineer for the city's Department of Transportation.

"They would have to live in a fixed dwelling, not a parked vehicle, to qualify for a permit," Willis said.

RVs and campers are being used as homes on stretches of Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, Riverside Drive near Griffith Park and Fountain Avenue in Hollywood. The vehicles have been an issue as far away as Santa Barbara, where city officials identified 12 parking lots that could be used as havens for people who live out of their vehicles.

In Los Angeles, one advocate for the homeless warned that the parking districts will, either by design or by accident, punish people who are one step away from living on the streets. UCLA law professor Gary Blasi, who studied homeless issues in downtown Los Angeles, also questioned whether the parking districts violate anti-discrimination laws.