[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]n the shadows of a brand new 20-story mixed-use development leased primarily by Netflix in a rapidly developing part of Hollywood, a chain-link fence stretching more than a city block obstructs the sidewalk.
Erected after a sanitation “cleaning” last Friday morning on Homewood Avenue between Ivar and Vine Streets, the fence displaced roughly 15 unhoused residents. Some of them lived in front of a building owned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for approximately a year.
Got word from a fellow @SELAH volunteer that yesterday an encampment on Homewood btw. Vine & Cahuenga was *bulldozed*. We’ve been doing outreach there for a year so I went to find some of the ～25 displaced folx. What happened is not surprising but continues to be outrageous. pic.twitter.com/9d2Y8lMo0o
— Kate Pynoos (@Kate_Pynoos) September 27, 2021
According to Elena Stern, a spokesperson for the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, the fence is unpermitted. “There is a pending Building Materials application for this location for a fence," Stern told L.A. TACO earlier this week. "It was going to be approved but is now put on hold."