The parties had a planning session on Oct. Wood Street residents and advocates from Artists Building Communities and Cob on Wood requested to meet with the California Transportation Equity Advisory Roundtable and the agency agreed. Shroff said the decision could “readjust what constitutional protections exist, particularly for large items that homeless folks have.”īustamante said that until the Wood Street home was bulldozed, Caltrans had abided by the settlement agreement.Ĭaltrans said it generally does sweeps “based upon safety concerns,” and “in critical circumstances where encampments pose imminent threats to safety or infrastructure and must be immediately resolved upon discovery.” The agency added, “Caltrans always attempts to first pursue engagement by local outreach unless emergency response functions are impeded.” Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in September that Los Angeles cannot destroy bulky property of homeless individuals. Under the settlement, “Caltrans is not obligated to store ‘bulky items,’ which would include a tiny home,” said Zal Shroff, an attorney at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which represented the unhoused plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
It also agreed to pay $1.3 million to unhoused plaintiffs in Alameda County. Caltrans, finalized in July, in which the agency committed to giving due notice before sweeps for five years.
This comes after a class-action settlement, Sanchez v. But before a sweep, Caltrans is required to give 48 hours’ notice, provide ample time to move personal belongings the day of the sweep, and store any seized property for 60 days. It is illegal to reside on Caltrans land without permission from the agency. Without providing 48-hour notice or a reasonable amount of time to clear personal belongings, Caltrans risks violating a recent settlement agreement.
“They came and talked to me the Friday beforehand, so they had a full opportunity to tell us that they didn’t want it there,” she said. “It is fire related, in general we have been asking people to voluntarily move to safer areas,” the agency wrote.Īnnmarie Bustamante, co-founder of Artists Building Communities, disputed the agency’s reasoning. In an emailed response, the agency said it removed “the framework of a wooden structure that was not occupied or habitable” and that, “no one was living in the wooden framework.” Caltrans said it was part of an area cleanup that included three stolen vehicles, a burned van, and trash. “The singling out of this structure is alarming,” said Tariq Ahmad Bhat, who had hoped to move in.Ĭaltrans acknowledged taking down the house.