"Stay out of Malibu, Lebowski! Stay out of Malibu, deadbeat! Keep your ugly, goldbricking a$$ out of my beach community!" barked the fictional Malibu sheriff in The Big Lebowski. Twenty-seven years later, the line reads less like a Coen Brothers gag and more like city policy: this week, the Malibu City Council unanimously declared an emergency, cracking down on unpermitted camping, and vowing to arrest anyone sleeping in its canyons and hillsides.
The Malibu City Council unanimously approved an emergency declaration Monday targeting unpermitted camping in fire-prone areas, directing law enforcement to arrest violators despite resistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The council adopted Resolution No. 25-49 after adding aggressive enforcement language that instructs city staff to work with the sheriff's department to "remove all individuals engaged in unpermitted camping" in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. If necessary, "such individuals should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent permissible by law."
The declaration was triggered when Live Fuel Moisture levels dropped to 63% on September 10, meeting the city's emergency criteria of 65% or below for Santa Monica Mountains vegetation.
SMDP
With yet another dangerous fire season upon them, Malibu officials cite 23 fires linked to unpermitted camping in 2021, as well as recent blazes near the Civic Center. The resolution empowers law enforcement to remove anyone camped in "Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones," which effectively means the entire city. Critics, including the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, warn it's yet another attempt to criminalize homelessness in a region where thousands are already unsheltered.
California's lack of affordable housing is the problem. People would not need to live in vehicles, camp on fire-prone hillsides, or sleep on the streets if there were available housing options.
Previously:
• To solve homelessness Lakewood, New Jersey enacts their policy of cruelty to all
• Vending machines to offer free items to NYC's homeless people
• San Francisco SPCA uses a robot to chase away homeless people, because cruelty to humans is just fine
• Sesame Street introduces Lily, the first muppet to experience homelessness
