Late Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the City’s Department of Water and Power would have the authority to shut off utilities to houses holding large parties in violation of the City’s orders prohibiting large gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Using his emergency powers, the Mayor’s executive order implements a motion that had been filed in City Council earlier in the day by CD4 Councilmember David Ryu, urging city agencies to coordinate to shut off utilities to party houses.
“We were very exited to see the Mayor take this action. It’s immediate, which is obviously much faster [than waiting for passage of Ryu’s motion], ” Mark Pampanin, Ryu’s Press Secretary, told the Buzz this morning. But Pampanin noted that the Mayor’s action doesn’t negate Ryu’s motion. “Councilmember Ryu will still pursue legislation because his motion goes further than the executive order and will be permanent,” said Pampanin.
As we reported yesterday, residents who live next door or near to these houses have been frustrated at the city’s lack of enforcement to stop the large, disruptive parties, despite owners having been cited by the Planning Department for violating the Home Sharing Ordinance. Hopefully, the Mayor’s order will deliver some results when it takes effect tomorrow.
“Beginning Friday night, if Los Angeles Police Department officers respond to and verify that a large party is occurring at a property, and there’s evidence that the venue has repeatedly engaged in such behavior, the department will request that the city shut off water and power services within 48 hours,” reported the Los Angeles Times.
Ryu’s motion proposes to increase penalties and deterrence options against property owners who put community health and safety at risk by skirting building and safety rules or city laws, such as the party house ordinance passed in 2018. Penalties could include water and power shutoffs, permit prohibitions, or having a certificate of occupancy held or revoked.
Specifically, Ryu’s motion seeks to bring the Department of Building and Safety (DBS), Department of City Planning (DCP), Department of Water & Power (DWP), and the Housing and Community Investment Department (HCID) together to identify code violations that threaten public health and well being, and provide increased deterrence tools aimed at property owners who violate the laws. The motion further requests the City Attorney to draft an ordinance based on these new deterrence tools to hold property owners accountable for illegal parties held at their locations that threaten public health. And, finally, the motion also goes after violators who own multiple properties, saying “the City should not issue permits at one site when the property owner has open violations at other sites.”
Perhaps the party house at 310 N. Lucerne will be a local example. Neighbor there reported another party recently. I read the owner will get a 48hr notice their power will be shut off. Presume that’s 2 days after a party & not during.