Topline:
Los Angeles is pushing a policy change to clear RVs the city considers a problem — ones that people are living in — from city streets. The proposal is in line with a new state law allowing RVs worth less than $4,000 to be destroyed, rather than stored and sold at auction.
The change: Current California law requires cities to store any impounded vehicle worth more than $500 that someone has been living in and to sell it later at public auction. The proposed change would allow the city to impound and immediately destroy RVs worth less than $4,000, which authorities say will cut storage costs and prevent the vehicles from ending up back on the streets.
New state law: The proposal follows passage of a state law that raises these thresholds in Los Angeles and Alameda counties. Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez authored Assembly Bill 630 with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has targeted RVs in her efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness. “AB 630 will allow us to expand on this work by bringing people into temporary housing, recycling unsafe and unlivable RVs, and making our streets safer,” Bass said.
Wednesday’s vote: L.A.’s Transportation Committee voted Wednesday to move the motion forward to a vote of the full City Council. If the council approves the motion, it is expected to direct city officials to modify local laws to bring them into compliance with the new state law, which goes into effect in January…