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Councilmember Wants Tiny Homes For Homeless To Be Fraction Of Current Cost

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A local politician is looking to vastly cut the costs of tiny home communities being built for homeless people in Los Angeles.

Councilman Paul Koretz filed a motion Tuesday stating the city could end up paying as much as $130,000 per 8-by-8 foot unit, but he said there are areas where tiny homes have been built for far less.

Koretz's motion seeks to have the city review tiny home costs that could be as little as $17,000 to $22,000 per unit.

But Koretz said jurisdictions in California have gotten the costs significantly lower for tiny homes, like Sonoma County ($21,817 per unit); Riverside ($17,000); and Santa Cruz.

He also cited cities outside of California like Tacoma, Washington ($12,000) and Seattle (less than $10,000).

According to an article in the L.A. Times, site preparation and a variety of infrastructure improvements deemed important for making the villages safer and more functional for residents was the reason for the higher costs in Los Angeles.

"It is abundantly clear that the approach the city is taking to plan and create these tiny home villages, while generous, has the potential to inflate the cost of providing the number of beds using this methodology," Koretz stated in his motion.

L.A. has undertaken the creation of tiny home villages as part of a settlement to a lawsuit, Los Angeles Alliance for Human Rights v. City of Los Angeles.

These villages utilize "pallet shelters" made by the Pallet Company from Washington state, which are approximately 64-square-foot steel sheds with modest amenities, each of which can accommodate one or two persons experiencing homelessness, Koretz stated.

L.A. has a short-term requirement to find or create beds for 6,700 homeless people.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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